ASK DR. DISH: Big family, no money

By • March 1, 2011 • Musings, The Daily Dish

Question: I know you’re not married, but I figured maybe your readers could help. I am engaged to a guy who has a very large family. I have a big family, too. We also have a lot of friends, coworkers and clients. Our guest list right now is somewhere between 700 and 800 people. There is NO WAY we can afford a big wedding with that many guests! We will be BROKE! I have a friend who went to Italy to get married and only invited 12 people. Is that OK? Do people get upset if they don’t get invited to a wedding? We don’t want people to be mad at us. HELP!

Answer: Honestly, I don’t see anything wrong with a destination wedding, especially if you want to keep the guest list short. I mean, at the end of the day, it’s your wedding — and unless they’re footing the bill, no one should have a say in your plans.

I have a friend like yours who went to Italy to get married. Only a handful of people attended — I didn’t; I couldn’t get away from work — and she was able to keep it intimate. It was like a wedding and honeymoon in one!

That said, it’s hard to avoid hurting people’s feelings when it comes to weddings. I know people who are upset about not getting invited to weddings — especially when they find out other people in the group were invited — and those feelings aren’t easy to fix. You have to just be honest and transparent with everyone, explain your situation and only invite the people who really matter. It’s hard, I can imagine, but it’s your wedding.

I actually don’t know if the advice I’m giving you is right. Anyone else out there can help? Maybe someone with experience?

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Bad hosts, great speeches and Gwyneth

By • February 28, 2011 • Musings, The Daily Dish

Even though I was sick last night and forced to lie on the couch, I could barely keep my eyes open during the 83rd annual Academy Awards.

I wish I could blame the meds.

This year’s Oscars were, well, boring. There were definitely moments, but not nearly enough strung together to make the show interesting. And it’s too bad since some of the best movies in years — and some of the best acting, too — were nominated.

Here are the highs and lows of last night’s awards show:

Highs

• “The King’s Speech” taking home four Oscars including Best Picture, Best Actor in a Leading Role (Colin Firth) and Best Directing (Tom Hooper). Very well deserved.

• A very pregnant Natalie Portman, who won the Oscar for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her portrayal of a troubled ballerina in “Black Swan,” thanked her choreographer-fiance Benjamin Millepied for giving her “my most important role of my life.” Sweet.

• The can-do-no-wrong Cate Blanchett, when presenting the award for make-up excellence, quipped, “That’s gross,” after seeing the clip of “The Wolfman” (which won). Made me chuckle.

• Billy Crystal, host of eight Academy Award shows, took the stage to a standing ovation — and rightfully so. I think the audience was about ready to revolt with the bad, bad hosting by James Franco and Anne Hathaway. (See below)

• Luke Matheny, an NYU student and winner of the best live action short film for “God of Love,” bounded on stage and declared, “Should’ve gotten a haircut!” (He also thanked his mom for providing the craft services — read: food — for the film.)

• Tom Hooper, who won Best Director for “The King’s Speech,” told the story about how his mom found the movie for him. “The lesson,” he said, “listen to you mother.” Cute.

• Colin Firth, who (finally) won Best Actor in a Leading Role for “The King’s Speech,” opened his acceptance speech with this: “I’m afraid I have to warn you that I’m experiencing stirrings somewhere in the upper abdominals which are threatening to form themselves into dance moves. Joyous as they may be for me, it would be extremely problematic if they make it to my legs before I get offstage.” Who doesn’t love this Brit?

• Sandra Bullock presented the Oscar for Best Actor in a Leading Role — and she did it with humor, class and warmth. In those two minutes on stage, Bullock was already solar systems better than the two hosts combined.

Lows

• Bad hosts. Really bad hosts. James Franco and Anne Hathaway had zero chemistry or comedic chops. Nothing about them was interesting — maybe aside from Hathaway’s revolving door of gowns. They seem like nice people — and decent actors — but they just couldn’t keep the show light and flowing. Most of the presenters, including Robert Downey Jr., could have done a better job.

• Melissa Leo, winning the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for “The Fighter,” dropped the F-bomb in her acceptable speech. It wasn’t totally awful, actually. But I think waving at “the little people” in the upper decks was a little much. (Remember, Leo was the one who took out ads in the Hollywood trade press, saying, “Vote for me.”)

• Gywneth Paltrow singing while Jennifer Hudson presents. What’s wrong with this picture?

What were your picks for the highs and lows of last night’s Oscars?

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FUUD: Jose's Mexican Cafe & Cantina

By • February 25, 2011 • Food, Musings, The Daily Dish

By about the fifth mile, I knew exactly what I wanted.

An icy margarita. In a pitcher.

So the plan was, after we survived the eight-mile Great Aloha Run on Monday, we were heading to Jose’s Mexican Cafe & Cantina in Kaimuki for margaritas. I mean, lunch.

So here’s what we ate:

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Jose’s Mexican Cafe & Cantina, 1134 Koko Head Ave. Lunch hours: 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. Phone: (808) 732-1833

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And the winner is…

By • February 24, 2011 • Musings, The Daily Dish

Nearly 100 people are dead in New Zealand after a 6.3-magnitude earthquake. Violence is rampant in Libya. Mayor Peter Carlisle is delivering his first State of the City address today. And yesterday a smiling Gov. Neil Abercrombie signed into law Senate Bill 232, which allows civil unions, making Hawaii the seventh state to acknowledge same-sex unions.

Lot of news going on around the world — and yet all I can think about is the 83rd annual Academy Awards on Sunday. (How shallow am I?)

And I don’t have any real reason why I’m excited — especially since I watch more movies via Netflix than in theaters and I haven’t seen most of the movies nominated for various awards.

So what’s the appeal?

It’s the same reason why I can watch the Super Bowl when my favorite team isn’t playing: I like the competition.

I like to predict who’s going to win, who’s going to get their acceptance speech cut off by orchestral music, who’s going to land on someone’s worst-dressed list.

It’s so much fun!

But let’s dish about the award we all wait for: the Best Picture Oscar.

Here are the nominees: Black Swan, The Fighter, Inception, The Kids Are All Right, The King’s Speech, 127 Hours, The Social Network, Toy Story 3, True Grit, Winter’s Bone.

Here’s my take: While “Inception” was undoubtedly clever and “The Social Network” was a media sensation, it’s going to be storylines and acting that will overwhelm the judges. It will come down to “Black Swan,” “True Grit” and “The King’s Speech,” in my opinion, with the latter — “The King’s Speech” — taking the top prize.

And as for Worst Performance on the Red Carpet, I’m going to pick Camille Grammar from Bravo’s “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” who was hired by CNN to work the pre-show. Oh, I can only imagine how badly that’s going to turn out.

You have a pick for Best Picture?

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Cat Chat 16: Eat The Street returns

By • February 23, 2011 • #CatTravels, Musings, The Daily Dish, Videos

Who said bigger isn’t always better?

Obviously that person didn’t go to last month’s Eat The Street food truck and street food rally in a small parking lot at Kapiolani Boulevard. Because bigger could only be better.

And lucky for us, it will.

Eat The Street is back on Friday, this time in a bigger venue. (We’re talking a four-acre lot on the corner of Halekauwila and South streets owned by Kamehameha Schools.) And you know what that means — more eats. And more reasons to check it out.

We sat down with event diva Poni Askew (@streetgrindz) to dish about the second food truck rally and why you should ditch work early that day and head down to Kakaako.

Eat The Street Kakaako, 5-9 p.m. Friday, 555 South St., Free. StreetGrindz.com

For more on the event, see our Eat The Street guide.

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