Popcorn Magazine

Spring 2012

DVD’s Are Here To Stay Bon Appetite!

Movie Style Recreate delicious food from your favorite movies page 21

How one local video store is surviving the online movie phenomenon page 17

Flops and POPs of 2011 Discover which movies you missed last year! page 15

Table of Contents Photo taken by Alexis W.

page 11

Logo from centralmarket.com

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page 13

page 7

Cajun Food for the Soul

5

Remember the Alamo... Drafthouse

7

Popcorn Through the Ages

9

Farm Fresh

11

They’ll Make A Chef Out Of You

13

Flops and POPs of 2011

15

DVD’s Are Here To Stay Weekly TV

17 19

Bon Appetite! Movie Style

21 2

The Popcorn Team Sara T. Sara is a freshman at the Liberal Arts and Sciences Academy. When she’s not stalking people on Tumblr or meditating to classical music, she enjoys cooking dinner and desserts for her family and friends. As for television, she has recently discovered an unhealthy addiction to bad reality game shows, but she also loves “posh” (she did not use that word right) British shows such as Downton Abbey and Doctor Who. Her spirit animal would be a triceratops. Her guilty pleasure is talking in third person about herself.

Alexis W. Alexis is a freshman at LASA. When she isn’t at lacrosse practice or doing her homework, she is watching David Boreanaz on Bones and trying to catch up with Lucy and Sara on Lost.

If she could have any dog in the world, she would want a husky, but a miniature husky would be okay too. Whenever she sees a husky she feels like she has to pet it or the world might end. If one day, there were no more huskies, Alexis would move to the moon. When she is not in Austin, she is in Albuquerque, making and eating super-delicious-homemadeItalian-food with her grandma.

Lucy R. Lucy is currently a freshman as LASA. She has an unhealthy addiction to watching TV, and is currently obsessed with the show Bones. She is also in the middle of watching LOST, so if anyone spoils anything for her that’s past season 5, she will slap them. Her favorite animal is her penguin pillowpet called Blubber, and she also really loves babies. But not in a creepy way.

She’s usually very friendly so anyone reading this magazine should get to know her, although she has been known to maim, injure, or kill. She likes making up sounds/words, as well. Mrreowwwp.

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A Letter from the Editors Dear Readers, Welcome to Popcorn Magazine!! Popcorn is about food and entertainment here in Austin. From reading this magazine, we hope that you get inspired to try out local restaurants, stores, and movies. And if you’ve never heard of any of the things mentioned in our magazine, then you have a lot of eating, walking, and watching to do. We’ve had a lot of fun working on this and discovering new things around town, so you [hopefully] will too. All of us love what we wrote about and hope that comes across in our magazine. Have fun and enjoy!

Love, The Popcorn Staff Alexis, Lucy, and Sara

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Cajun Food for the Soul A dream to feed people amazing soul food and keep the homeless fed becomes a reality in this sone room restaurant owned by Mrs. Lola Stphens-Bell.

By: Alexis W.

T

he inside of the Nubian Queen Lola’s Cajun Food Restaurant is painted yellow and purple and covered with inspirational posters. Mardi Gras beads hang from the ceiling, just high enough to walk under. The smell of fried goodness seeps through the kitchen door and fills up the tiny one room restaurant that doubles as a soup kitchen every Sunday. Eight years ago, Lola Stephens-Bell was scraping together what little money she had to remain off the streets. Today, she has her own restaurant and is committed to spending her Sundays feeding the homeless. She believes keeping her restaurant open and keeping people fed is her destiny.

The Nubian Queen makes Cajun soul food in her one room restaurant for anyone who walks in her door. Her customers are family when they enter her tiny restaurant, and any homeless man or woman with an empty belly can get a full serving of soul food every Sunday.

The Nubian Queen prides herself on her food, which is made by her in the one person kitchen tucked behind the dining room. She serves gumbo, crawfish etoufee, jambalaya, hamburgers, pork chops, chicken wings, fish, shrimp, and sides including macaroni and cheese, corn bread, green beans, and dirty rice “They love that crawfish etoufee, chicken wings and that gumbo!” she says.

She is passionate about all of her delicious food for six days out of the week. On Sundays, the Nubian Queen shuts down her restaurant and opens her backyard to homeless people in need of some good food. She personally understands

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the places these people are coming from, having been almost homeless herself for two years.

“Actually I think I had to become homeless to live the life that I am living today. And you know this happened because you can’t be someone unless you become it.” She says. “What happened to me, I had to die. I lost my family and once I died I came back with a new energy of life. It was terrible but I lived through it and here I am!”

She picked herself up and is spreading her message of pushing through hard times to see better ones.

Though the economy took a turn for the worst over the past few years, the Nubian Queen is keeping her doors open “through the favor that god has on my life” as she says.

“And that [favor] was for me to feed the homeless and take care of the poor.” She believes. “To put food on my table and feed what [god] serves.”

Every Sunday there is a small crowd gathered at the Cajun restaurant, and the Nubian Queen knows she is not the only one committed to keeping them fed.

“I mean, if we all were to come together, not just the food centers and places like that, but everybody feeding the homeless as one body, one shield and learn that we got to do it together and quit bein’ big men, all focused on themselves; because all those people that’s out there with nothin’, they are the littlest ones in the whole nation,” she says, “‘cause nobody wants to see them.”

Her dream is for a homeless shelter to be built, where people in need can have a safe place to spend the night.

“We need it eventually. If I don’t live life to the fullest

to see it, I pray that it comes in the future.” She says.

The Nubian Queen has big dreams for the future and for the impact her food could have on the homeless population she reaches and her customers.

“People is coming from far and near to find out ‘What is this?’ and ‘What are you doing?’ and it’s just incredible.” She says.

With a smile on her face, she greets everyone she sees and believes in the golden rule, which her mother taught her as a little girl.

“And when you get the treat to live life like that, you really gonna start treatin’ people good, and

“

it really do come back to you.” She says. “Yea it comes back. Maybe not through the people you are treating good but those surrounding [you].”

With more food cooking in the kitchen and a new customer walking through the door every day, The Nubian Queen is working full time. But she loves every minute of it.

“Yeah that’s just the way we was born, into this rhythm, having a good time, all of that is all just a part of Louisiana.” She says. “We love great food, we love believing in god, we love to dance. I mean we just love life.”

And when you get the treat to live life like that, you really gonna start treatin’ people good, and it really do come back to you.

Photo taken by Alexis W.

The Nubian Queen Lola is staying strong and keeping her restaurant open to feed people, even in tough economic times.

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­­­­­--Lola StephensBell, owner of the Nubian Queen Lola’s Restaurant

Remember the Alamo...Drafthouse Past, Present, and Future Photos from alamodrafthouse.com

I

magine walking into a movie theater filled with families and friends, all excitedly talking about the release of a new movie. Looking around, you realize that you’re standing in the middle of an alien plant invasion that takes over the lobby and leads to various movie screen entrances. You can even order food and drinks served by waiters and waitresses during the movie, although that shouldn’t be a surprise. This is the new Alamo Drafthouse, after all.

Plans for this Alamo Drafthouse have lasted for more than two years, with many criticisms and difficulties along the way. According to the Circle C Homeowners Association, construction actually had to be stopped for a couple of months to reach agreements with stratus and pipeline owners to get the final site approval.

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By: Lucy Ren

The Alamo Drafthouse is finally finished and officially open, after years of anticipation and patience. This 33,650 sq ft theater is the company’s biggest yet, seating up to a thousand people with eight wall to wall screens. They’ve really gone all out for this theater. All of the past complaints from customers have been taken into consideration, according to Alamo founder Tim League.

The front row of seats has been removed, which will allow everyone to have a good seat during the movie and be able to watch comfortably. All movies will also be shown in Sony 4K digital production, instead of 35 mm prints. Finally, instead of the continuous table in front of each row of seats, now every two seats will share a small table.

All of these features sound great right? Well, not to some people that went to go check out this new theater.

Their complaints included the new table setup, service, and general look of the building. While I agree that it might be a little awkward to share a table with a stranger, in the case that the party that you came with was an odd number, the tables that they’ve switched to are certainly big enough for two people to use without any difficulties. This also gives everyone in the theater more of a chance to socialize with others and be able to meet new people before the movie actually starts. As for the service; I thought that the staff was great and they will definitely have more chances to improve, if needed, seeing as the theater constantly seems packed.

Although the outside may seem a little plain to some, I think that it was important to still keep the general feel and recognizability of the Alamo Drafthouse that Austin is familiar with, especially since the inside has so many changes and differences.

The menu has some new choices but their food and drinks are still great, keeping the Alamo quality that we all know. In additon to the lobby bar, there is also a cocktail bar called 400 Rabbits that extends off of the Drafthouse and is open to everyone and not just the people with movie tickets. People complained about the fact that there were little children running around outside and in the bar, but remember that this is Circle C, a neighborhood with many families. Adults bringing their kids to a movie theater should definitely be expected and encouraged.

The Alamo Drafthouse is famous in Austin for providing citizens with a new creative way to watch movies. They often host festivals, marathons, and sing- alongs where related food is served. They’ve even created a line of different wines with names corresponding to The Princess Bride. This new Drafthouse will be able to provide entertainment for a fun night out with children and adults of different ages, bringing all of the residents of Circle C together in one place.

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Popcorn Thro The History of Movies and Their Timeless Snack By: Sara T.

Photo from Imcmahanphoto

British photographer Eadweard Muybridge takes the first successful photographs of motion, showing how people and animals move

Evidence of earliest popcorn found in Peru

Construction of the first motion picture studio in New Jersey

by Thomas Edison

1492 AD

1878

4700 BC

Christopher Columbus witnesses native American Indians wearing accessories made from popcorn

Photo from nal.usda

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1885

1909

1893

Invention of the first popcorn machine by Charles Cretors of Chicago, Illinois; street vendors begin selling popcorn in US

About 9,000 movie theaters in the US; the typical film is only ten to twelve minutes in length, and the performers are anonymous

ugh the Ages Photo from memory.loc

Introduction of packaging for popcorn use at home

The film industry announced its first general rating system (“G”, “M”, “R”, and “X”)

Hulu.com offers free movies and television shows on computer screens (supported by ads)

The first commercial television station begins broadcasting

Invention of first electronic popcorn machine by Charles Manley; vendors move inside the theater

1922

1914

1927

1925

1987

1945

1941

1968

2012

2008

During World War II, Americans ate three times as much popcorn because of sugar rations; taken overseas and adopted by other countries The first 3D feature film, Nat Deverich’s 5-reel melodrama Power of Love is shown to an audience

Half of US homes receive cable television

Warner Bros.’s The Jazz Singer presents the movie’s first spoken words using recorded sound on discs

Today, concession stand sales account for about 40 percent of movie theatres’ net revenue

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Farm Fresh

Why the Downtown Farmer’s Market is the best one in the city

By Alexis W.

As

also has the benefit of a uniquely central I walk through the blocked off streets, location. At the heart of downtown, different swatches of color curst from this market is available to different age vendor’s stands on either side of me. The bright groups and social groups of people. purple turnips, juicy red and yellow tomatoes, Sabah Raman, a regular at the market, rich brown breads, and creamy white cheeses likes to come with her little girl. She are a feast for the eyes and nose. The variety comes “To support local farms, and just of foods and people is extraordinary. Old because [the food] is so good and organic, couples and young families stroll up and down freshly grown seasonal food, and I love the street, stopping occasionally the location.” Another man, to look at the treasures beneath Desmond, comes with old the tents.

The downtown friends of his, just because farmers market, the best in they like the atmosphere and town, is buzzing with life, and the proximity of the whole This is our home; its only nine in the morning. thing. “The fresh produce and you know all of “There’s a lot of regulars that the people and the great food” the families, all of buy our cheese and expect us are what brings him back the vendors to be here” says Chrissy Omo every week. The downtown from CKC Farms. She has been farmers market was the bringing her fresh goat cheese --Melissa Brinckmann, first market the Sustainable owner of Cake and Food Center (SFC) set up in to the Downtown Farmers Spoon Market for two years now, and Austin. Though they now feels like she has a duty to sell have many other markets her product to the weekly customers. Most all over the city of Austin, this centrally of the other vendors feel the same way about located one is where most vendors feel this market. Melissa Brinckmann, the owner at home, and where the mission of SFC of Cake and Spoon, says “We love it here. This can be clearly seen. SFC is working to is our home; you know all of the families, all promote healthy food habits in the Austin of the vendors.” It is clear to anyone walking Area by supporting local farmers. Eleanor through the market that these vendors are Pratt, a volunteer for SFC, says “They’re passionate about what they do and are excited all wonderful farmers and people who to be back at the market. Rain or shine, these make food that’s healthy.” This philosophy people are setting up their tents and laying out is shared by all the farmers as well. their precious, organic foods to sell to their Becky Ottmers, from Ottmers Family loyal customers. The downtown farmers market Farms, wants to “Spread the word with

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”

Photos taken by Alexis W. The Downtown Farmers’ Market is open every Saturday, rain or shine, from 9:00a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

my fresh vegetables and let [the customers] be just as healthy as I am.” This central location is a great place to attract people from different age groups and different socio-economic backgrounds.

It brings people together while supporting local farmers and keeping the city healthy. The downtown farmers market is definitely the best one in town. It has local farmers who are excited to sell their organic, delicious foods and goods that attract different types of people because of its great, central location. Though there are plenty of other farmers markets springing up around Austin, the one downtown is the model for success and can’t be replicated.

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Photo and Logo from centralmarket.com

They’ll Make A Chef Out Of You The Story Behind Central Market’s Cooking School By: Sara T. 13

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You always have to eat. The younger you get into cooking, the better off you’ll be in the long run.

W

alking into any popular food store, you can be pretty sure what to expect: people browsing through the aisles, food samples, and workers at the cash registers. However, at Central Market, a gourmet grocery store chain first opened in Austin in 1994, you will additionally find passionate cooks teaching customers the best ways to use the ingredients they are buying.

In fact, Central Market’s culinary school has been gaining in popularity because of their own team of talented instructors and diversity of local, regional and nationally known chefs and guest instructors. Scot Loranc, best known for his sushi classes, is one of the chefs who has been with the school since its beginning.

Loranc says that when the school first started, its aim was to educate people specifically about the products and ingredients sold from the store. Now the classes focus more on the food and teaching people cooking tips while having fun.

“We’ve evolved by the talents of the chefs that work here,” Loranc says. “We all have our strengths, and we play to those strengths.”

Most of the unique ideas for the school, from knife skills classes to “All Bacon All The Time”, come from the customer suggestion box on the survey filled out at the end of each class. Other classes come from the chefs’ expertise.

“Because [the chefs here] are so unique in our skill sets, our classes are geared towards what we like to cook,” Loranc says. As well as sushi, he also enjoys teaching how to roll and make fresh pasta because it’s “kind of therapeutic.”

Sophie A., both a student and a volunteer at the cooking school, also has nothing but positive things to say about Central Market.

“The overall feel of the teen classes are incredibly upbeat and fun, yet also structured in a way that each student had the opportunity to participate and learn from each other and the instructors,” Sophie says.

”

“[The classes] definitely took my attitude of wishing I could cook and made me realize that anybody is able to create these amazing meals with the right knowledge, making me want to know more.”

Loranc enjoys teaching the teen classes and supports this kind of attitude among teens, saying that the things they learn now is a skill set they’re never going to lose.

“You always have to eat. So, the younger you get into cooking the better off you’ll be in the long run,” he says. “You will learn to enjoy different foods and your palate will change. If you learn to appreciate food earlier in life, over the course of your life you will appreciate it more.”

According to Loranc, Austin is quickly becoming the “culinary capital” of the country. The music scene, popularity of the food trailer industry, local talented chefs gaining national recognition, and growing diverse culture are contributing factors.

“You have many varieties of ethnic groups that live here and we’ve become the melting pot for that. And with that melting pot, people are coming in with new cuisines and ideas. When I first started cooking here there were only a handful of fine dining restaurants, and now there’s an infinite amount. When you have James Beard-nominated chefs coming in, people start seeing that and want to come to Austin.”

Learning how to cook will give you an essential skill set that you can use for the rest of your life. As famous chef Julia Childs says, “no one is born a great cook, one learns by doing.” So check out the Central Market cooking school and bon appetite!

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Flops and POPs of 2011 Which movies did you miss in the theater last year?

By: Sara T.

F

rom deadly diseases and killer monkeys to romantic getaways and unforgettable

parties, the range of movies last year in 2011 was of a wide variety, with some better than others. Focusing on the latter half of the year, I have looked back and comprised a list of my personal favorites and… not so favorites. So curl up with a bag of popcorn and rent these amazing movies.

Photo from IMDb

CONTAGION

In the not-so-distant future, a deadly epidemic sweeps the globe, startling the nation. This unnerving film follows the disease as it grows and progresses, as well as the public’s reaction to this catastrophe. Steven Soderbergh captures the perfect atmosphere for a movie dealing with this subject, making it excruciatingly realistic and understandable without “dumbing down” any of the scientific subject matter. I love most of my favorite movies because of the scores, but the score for Contagion is hauntingly simple yet effective. Kevin Carr, a top critic on Rotten Tomatoes, says, “At the heart of Contagion is the fear of a disease that can send the world into anarchy, a scenario which seems extreme but is actually dangerously realistic.” Although this film features several big-name actors such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, and Jude Law, their roles are never overused and fall seamlessly into the movie. This thriller is sure to have you leaving the theater with nervous thoughts about how fragile society can really become and the strong desire to wash your hands.

Based on the novel by Pittacus Lore, this movie focuses on an extraordinary teenage boy (Alex Pettyfer) on the run from vengeful aliens.

After settling down in a small town in Ohio, he attempts to blend in with his peers and instead meets his first love (Dianna Agron) and puts them both in danger. This movie tries to be fast-paced and entertaining, but it only succeeds as being unbearably cheesy and cliché. Because of its lack of characterization, the characters are all extremely forgettable and immature.

Though the idea of the main character being number four on an assassin’s countdown was somewhat promising and the graphics were impressive, this movie greatly disappointed me.

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Photo from Wikipedia

I AM NUMBER FOUR

Photo from Wikipedia

WE BOUGHT A ZOO

From director Cameron Crowe comes a heart-warming and true story about a single dad who decides the best way to start fresh is to buy and move into a broken-down zoo with his young son and daughter. Although the plot of this movie hides no surprises, it succeeds in its purpose of being very pleasant and even moving at times. Because of the simple and predictable story, this film relies upon actors such as Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, and Colin Ford, all of whom definitely do it justice. My personal favorite moments in the film are the scenes where tensions between the father and his son play out. They show the most emotional honesty in their conversations because of their experiences with and after their mother. Joe Morgenstren of The Wall Street Journal gets it right when he says, "We Bought a Zoo is a movie you want to like, and a movie you can enjoy if you cut its slackness some slack." In conclusion, this is a sweet movie perfect for family night at home.

If you combined all of Hollywood’s famous high school clichés into one storyline, you would come up with something similar to Prom, Disney’s latest production. This movie follows several different people through their experiences with senior prom. One of these people, Nova Prescott, is determined, as the student body president, to make her grade’s last prom live up to her stereotypical dreams against all costs.

While some may say it is merely a light-hearted, feel-good movie that a family could enjoy, this film is much too safe and cheesy to entertain anyone older than tweens.

SOURCE CODE

This fast-paced action thriller is pretty short, lasting a little over an hour and a half, and it is sure to keep your attention the entire time. Captain Colter Stevens is a critical part of the Source Code, the newest technologically advancement in investigating that allows him to take over another man’s identity in the last eight minutes of his life. Steven’s particular mission is to relive these eight minutes until he can gather enough clues to locate the bomber of a passenger train before he strikes again. As well as teaching a valuable lesson about how precious each second of life can be, this brilliant movie also experiments with the possibility of several alternate realities existing at once, and does an excellent job of an ending which leaves the viewer wondering. With this I disagree with Mary Pols, movie reviewer for TIME Magazine, who argues, “it is a tremendous downer when the second half of the movie… raises more questions than it answers.” Part of the reason I enjoyed this movie so much was because it was left so open-ended, with much room for further conversations. And at least for me, the reason for watching a movie is the discussions which arise afterwards.

Photo from Wikipedia

Photo from Wikipedia

PROM

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Photo from citydata.com

DVD’s Are Here To Stay

The story behind the success of one local video renting store in Austin

By Lucy R.

17

17

R

ows of both new and old DVD’s and video tapes fill up the small inside of Vulcan Video, each holding a different story within them.

Countless number of movie poster and advertisements line the walls.

Despite Netflix taking over most of the video renting industry, Vulcan is still able to attract many Austin locals each day.

All around town, video stores are closing and going bankrupt. Places like Blockbuster and Hollywood Video that used to be seen everywhere have just about disappeared. Despite this, locally owned, more resourceful stores have continuously grown in the last few years.

“It’s very strange because it seems like a video store should not be existing anymore with the internet and Netflix and what have you,” says the manager of the southern Vulcan Video, Brian Connolly, “But Austin is a very strange town where people like to support those kind of things that don’t exist in other places.”

Vulcan Video has been around since the 80’s, back when it actually started as a poster shop.

The original store was opened at the northern location, on 29th street, and within a couple years it was doing well enough to open the one on South Congress.

“The owner likes to collect cool stuff like posters and movies and stuff like that, so I think they decided to put those in and start renting movies [because] in the 80’s that was a popular thing to do,” Connolly says.

Since then, Vulcan has been able to get so many movies that now it is one of the main reasons why it has become so popular. They have everything from classics, to cult movies, to new releases, and even ones from all around the world.

“We didn’t get rid of any of our video tapes, which is good. And so anybody that wants to see movies, we have all these options here cause there’s a lot of stuff on video tape that isn’t on DVD, that isn’t on Netflix, that can’t just streamed, so it’s good to just never get rid of anything,” Connolly adds, “But then a lot of the stuff we’ll hear about some guy who has like all these videotapes for sale at his house and we’ll just go and drive an hour, dig through videotapes and you know, find other stores that are going out of business and take anything that they have for sale that’s cool that we don’t have.”

“

video store to physically rent the movie is their way of incorporating the social aspect into it.

“People like to still, I think, talk to people to get their opinion. To feel like they’re doing a thing rather than just clicking a mouse, cause a lot of people’s jobs are just clicking a mouse all day and so at the end of the day they’re like ‘Oh let’s do a thing, even if the thing is just to walk to the video store and rent a movie,” he says.

Talking with the employees has become the normal thing to do while checking out the movies at Vulcan Video. Whether it’s ask

Austin is a very strange town where people like to support those kind of things that don’t exist in other places.

It’s not only the customers who know exactly what movie they want that come here, but also the ones who aren’t looking for anything in particular and want to discover new films.

“We’ve gotten a lot of people that come in and they’re like ‘I use Redbox, I use Netflix, but we like coming in because it’s nice to randomly browse and find special things because well, you just can’t do that on the internet.’ You would have to know exactly what you’re looking for, where here, you can just walk to the horror section and look at a box that catches your eye and rent that movie. The owner also set up this store so that it’s a nice maze of movies,” Connolly explains.

Nowadays, watching movies from a computer at home doesn’t really give anyone a chance to interact with others. For some, getting in the car and driving or even walking to a

”

ing about a new movie, or discussing a classic, these conversations are something that most customers look forward to.

“We make sure not to have the typical snobby video clerk,” Connolly laughs, “We have really nice people that are just friendly first, then know about movies send and I think that has worked. We definitely try to make out store more like a nice family.”

So while nationally known video store chains have been slowly fading, Vulcan Video has been able to grow due to their own efforts and to the citizens of Austin who love unique and different things that other places have moved from.

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Shows that we don’t think you should miss!

Monday Castle 9 pm

Tuesday

Last Man Standing 7 pm

Weekly TV

Cougar Town 7:30 pm

The Voice 7pm Smash 9 pm

Bones 7 pm

Glee 7 pm

House 8 pm

New Girl 8 pm Raising Hope 8 pm

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The Voice 7 pm

How I Met Your Mother 5 pm

How I Met Your Mother 5 pm

Friends 6 pm

Friends 6 pm

Gossip Girl 7 pm

By: Lucy R.

Wednesday

Thursday

The Middle 7 pm

Missing 7 pm

Modern Family 8 pm

Grey’s Anatomy 8 pm

Friday

Revenge 9 pm

Community 7pm 30 Rock 7:30 pm Awake 9 pm

Touch 8 pm

Fringe 8 pm

How I Met Your Mother 5 pm

How I Met Your Mother 5 pm

How I Met Your Mother 5 pm

Friends 6 pm

Friends 6 pm

Friends 6 pm Nikita 7 pm

Logos from their respective websites

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Bon Appetit! Movie Style By: Alexis W.

Ratatouille

Screenshot of a movie poster

To save the Gusteau’s restaurant, Reme, the rat, must cook up some ratatouille to serve to the most respected food critic in all of Paris.

Ingredients:

•1 large eggplant

Let me paint you a picutre. A rat, dancing with a carrot, in a famous French restaurant where he cooks, in Paris.

Jealous?

Directions:

•1/3 to 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil •Salt and freshly ground black pepper •1 medium zucchini, chopped •1 medium onion, chopped •1 tablespoon minced garlic •2 medium tomatoes, chopped •1/2 cup minced fresh parsley or basil leaves

Trim the eggplant and cut it into 1-inch cubes. Put the oil in large skillet and turn heat to medium. Add the eggplant, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and stir occasionally for about 15 minutes, until soft and golden .

Add the zucchini and cook, stirring occasionally for about 2 or 3 minutes.

Add the onion and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Add garlic and the tomatoes and keep cooking until the tomatoes become mushy. Remove the pan from the heat and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Take skillet off the stove and enjoy your meal while watching a rat do the exact same thing.

Pretty Women Cookies

Vivian goes to dinner with Edward, only to find escargot on her plate.

A good substitute for the French delicacy would be a cookie look-alike.

Photo from eggs.ca

Ingredients:

•Betty Crocker Sugar Cookie Mix •Jar of Vanilla Icing •Food Dye

Directions:

The great thing about Betty Crocker Cookie Mix is that the directions for making the cookies are right on the back of the bag. Instead of making normal shaped sugar cookies, you will have to make snail shaped cookies. To do this, take a spoonful of cookie dough and roll it into a nice ball shape. Then, take a pinch of dough, about the size of the tip of you rindex finger, and attach that to the circle as the snail’s head.

Once you have the cookies on a ookie sheet and in the oven, you will need to empty the icing into three small bowls. Each bowl will be dyed a different color. The three colors I would recommend are pink, green, and blue. Depending on the intensity that you want, add more or less than about two drops of dye into the icing. To ice the snails, you will use a butter knife and start from the center of the cookie, moving to the outside.

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Eating a real snail might make your stomach do a flip flop. Eating a delicious sugar-cookie-iced-snail will make your stomach smile.

Lady and the Tramp Spaghetti Screenshot of a movie poster

The two dogs in this movie are in love, despite socio-economic differences. On their first date, they are serenaded by chefs while eating spaghettir at a candle-lit table.

Ingredients:

•1/4 cup chopped onion

•2 cups meatless spaghetti sauce •1 cup water •3 ounces uncooked spaghetti •2 teaspoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

In a nonstick skillet, cook onion over medium heat.

Stir in the spaghetti sauce, water, and spaghetti noodles.

Bring to a boil. Then, reduce the heat and cover so it can simmer for 20 minutes or until the spaghetti is tender. Add as much cheese as you want to the top. If you want your dinner scene with a friend to play out the same way as it did for the the two dogs in Lady and the Tramp, you need to make sure you don’t cut your spaghetti before you eat it.

Probably the most romantic scene in all of the animal world, using long spaghetti in your recipe will acheive this romantic dinner setting.

Screenshot of a movie poster

The Big Night Omelet

Primo and Secundo have built a dying restaurant in American and despite cooking great Italian food, end their struggle with their restaurant by cooking omelets as the sun rises.

Ingredients:

•2 fresh eggs •Whatever you want in the inside of your omelet ( I prefer spinach, onion, and tomato) •Bag of Shredded Cheese •Milk

Directions:

The ending scene of the Big Night, after Primo and Secondo argued and their restaurant lays in despair, is a nearly wordless yet powerful long take of Secondo cooking an omelet. If you want to cook an omelet with the same intensity as Secondo, this is the omelet you should make.

To make the perfect, intense omelet, you will begin with a buttered pan on the stove at about medium heat. Beat the eggs in a bowl and chop up whatever you are putting into the omelet in another bowl. Pour the eggs into the pan and wait for about 2 minutes. Then add whatever you are putting in the omelet and sprinkle some cheese on top. Once you think your egg is well cooked, use a spatula or flipper to gently roll your omelet into its desired form. Turn the stove off and serve yourself or a friend the omelet, remaining silent and solemn, just like in The Big Night!

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