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While in the Middle East providing a new-product demonstration to the US Armed Forces, super-genius playboy weaponsmaker Tony Stark is ambushed and kidnapped. To buy his freedom from his captors he must construct the new weapon he was showcasing. He decides, instead, to build a suit made of iron to help him escape, a suit powered by an electromagnet that was installed in his chest to prevent shrapnel from entering his heart. Further design modifications and refinements lead Stark to a truly amazing concept which makes him a bonafide superhero.

The movie follows its hero (pun intended) on a series of personality changes. He goes from chick magnet to humble captive and from cocky fly boy to man on a mission. I am sure you can figure out which traits were more entertaining.

I was impressed at first with how much hype was created for this movie. Those involved took a pretty well-known but certainly less-popular comic book character and made it one of the most highly anticipated films in at least recent history. My hat is off to them all for going beyond that and delivering such a fun and energizing movie. They also followed the story well and included at least two teasers as to what we might see sometime into the future (*cough* War Machine and The Avengers *cough*).

The story gets in the way a few times, and it is cheesy comic book story, but I hope you can get past that. With the volume of comic books being adapted to film, most people should be pretty used to that by now. What that story does is form the environment in which the special effects can really shine.

Tony Stark is a stronger personality (and thus a better lead) than either Peter Parker or Bruce Wayne, and Iron Man and the pace of his movie are also significantly more explosive. Since you're now questioning me, I will say that Iron Man was better than any of the Spider-Man movies. And I liked Iron Man for different reasons than Batman, so that is a hard comparison to make, but I think Batman Begins is still the better movie. And we'll see how Mr. Stark does against The Dark Knight later this summer.

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Stan Lee: You know, I think you ought to get him some help. He seems to be really hung up on super heroes' sex organs.

I misplace things far too often these days, my glasses more than anything. My car keys. I enter stores and forget what I've come for, leave the theater with no recollection of what I've just seen. If time for me really is a series of bookmarks, then I feel as if someone has shaken the book and those yellowed slips of paper, torn matchbook covers and flattened coffee stirrers have fallen to the floor, and the dog-eared flaps have been pressed smooth.

Fiery Cajun Shrimp

2 cups (4 sticks) melted butter
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons ground pepper
2 tablespoons hot sauce (recommended: Texas Pete)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons salt
5 pounds unpeeled medium shrimp
2 lemons, thinly sliced
French bread, for dipping

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Stir together the butter, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, pepper, hot sauce, garlic, and salt. Pour half this mixture into a large heatproof dish. Layer half the shrimp and half the lemon slices in the dish; then form a second layer with the remaining shrimp and lemon slices, and pour remaining sauce into the dish. Bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes, or until the shrimp are pink, stirring twice. Pour off the sauce into individual serving dishes. Serve the shrimp with plenty of French bread for dipping in the spicy butter sauce.

Yield: 8 servings

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The flyer advertising the event promised over 100 wines from around the world for this two-hour event. The actual offering in close, though under 100 wines, but it was more than enough. We were greeted with a Champagne toast and set free on the food and wine. The food was good, but not great. They had fruit, some cheeses (which came in handy later in the night) and three different pasta dishes.

The wine was placed on nine tables. I would have loved to see them organized by region or light-to-heavy around the room, but that would have been too difficult. They were, instead, arranged by nine different wine distributors who sell to Red Wagon, and each brought basically whatever they wanted. Each wine at the event was wine that Red Wagon sells. For the night of the event only, each bottle was offered at a discount.

When we checked in before it started, we were given a complete list of the wines available at each table. We had time to go over the list and note which ones we didn't want to miss, but we had enough time to really try every wine they had.

The distributors' participation extended beyond supplying their wine. Each remained stationed at its table and was available to pour and discuss the wines. They were all personable, helpful and very knowledgeable.

The ticket price was $50, which is expensive. But it was a great value when you consider that there were so many wines available to taste, food was included, each person received a Riedel wine glass to keep, and a portion of each ticket was donated to charity.

The crowd seemed to be enthusiasts, professionals, casual drinkers and first timers. Dress code was advertised as casual, but business casual was more appropriate.

I look forward to the next event.

Magic Hat #9

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The Blue Duck Tavern welcomes you with wholesome American fare prepared through simple, time-honored cooking methods such as roasting, braising, preserving and smoking. The new contemporary neighborhood tavern, designed by Tony Chi, evokes the warmth and convivial setting of a residential kitchen and gathering place.

Fresh produce and ingredients, arriving daily from regional purveyors and artisans, are an integral part of the seasonal menus featured at the Blue Duck Tavern.

Executive Chef Brian McBride and new Chef de Cuisine Michael Santoro prepare many dishes in the wood-burning oven, a focal point of the inviting open kitchen and the heart of this restaurant.

If the restaurant owners actually cared about this review, they couldn't be happier with the night I was there. It was an absolutely beautiful spring evening which allowed us to have dinner seated outside at Blue Duck.

Blue Duck features one of the more interesting menus that I've seen. You have appreciate the freshness that comes with the seasonal ingredients they feature, but I'm a little gunshy about a few items offered (e.g. "hot pigs trotter"). And I definitely was thankful for the plate of freshly sliced prosciutto that was given to us shortly after our basket of bread.

I'm not normally one to indulge in the seafood selections when I have other options, but I figured when I'm that close to Maryland I would do myself a disservice by not getting the Jumbo Lump Crabcakes. The crab cake entree was two substantially-sized crab cakes with plenty of crab meat in each. They were very good, but I must admit that they were nothing compared to the Wood Fired Diver Maine Scallops, which were easily the best scallops I've ever eaten. Consider that I've already stated I don't eat much seafood, but I love scallops.

For sides we went potato times two. The Roasted Fingerlings with bacon and onion were maybe a little under seasoned, but nothing that couldn't be addressed table-side. Or maybe they were very good but overshadowed by the Hand Cut BDT Triple Fries which were delicious, though I did wonder what might be a fun dipping sauce for them.

When you walk into Blue Duck, you are conveniently herded past the station where their popular apple pies are prepared. They recommend one to share, and it is plenty big enough for two people. "Would you like vanilla ice cream with that?" Of course I would. A small, nearly-personal pie with a delicious caramelized brown sugar top served with three big scoops of vanilla ice cream.

I guess I should mention the bottle of 2005 Montes "Alpha" Cabernet Sauvignon from Chile that we had. It, as well as everything served, knocked my socks off.

Shadow is a man with a past. But now he wants nothing more than to live a quiet life with his wife and stay out of trouble. Until he learns that she's been killed in a terrible accident.

Flying home for the funeral, as a violent storm rocks the plane, a strange man in the seat next to him intoduces himself. The man calls himself Mr. Wednesday, and he knows more about Shadow than is possible.

He warns Shadow that a far bigger storm is coming. And from that moment on, nothing will ever be the same...

A man who goes by the name Shadow gets released from prison and before he even makes it home his entire world is turned upside down. He is engaged in conversation by another man who knows an uncomfortable amount about him and tells Shadow he needs his help. After their conversation the story seemingly followed Alice down the proverbial rabbit hole.

The book follows Shadow to hell and back, almost literally. He encounters many Gods from probably every region of the world and from every era. The research was definitely thorough, though almost too much so. There may have been a few too many references to Gods that have been long-forgotten. But that is often a complaint of sci-fi/fantasy books, in how they can be too detailed and descriptive.

I cannot rave enough about how much I love this plot. The Gods of old, which were brought to the US by whomever, however devout, are facing a great paradigm shift. The old Gods are being edged out in the US by new Gods who represent more commercialized, Capitalistic and technological ideals. Shadow chose sides with the old Gods, but he has no idea if he made the right choice. But he knows all he can do now is see the coming storm through to the end.

This book took forever to read, was very bizarre in many parts, and the ending was almost anti-climactic. And I still really enjoyed it. Call me crazy I guess.

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What are you going to do when it doesn't matter what you say?