Dirty Deals, Murder, Mob Goons, and a Kidnapping: Men at Work (1990)

Dirty deals, murder, mob goons, and kidnapping

So I was surfing through Amazon recommendations and I saw this starred Emilio Estevez and his brother Charlie Sheen, and was written by Emilio Estevez, I just had to watch it.

{Picture from Ringu)

I am so glad I did as this was hilarious!

I love Emilio Estevez, I always have ,so anything with him in it, I’m down for.

So we start the film off with a meeting between gangster rich guy, Maxwell Potterdam III (John Getz) and the Mayor running for reelection. Potterdam what kind of name is that for an evil villain/gangster? Sounds more like a nerd to me.

So Potterdam has been paying the mayor so that he could illegally dump his toxic waste, but the mayor is done with it. Unbeknownst to Potterdam, he’s sneaky and caught the gangster on tape.

Oh, wow…

Hmm…From there we switch to friends and coworkers, Carl Taylor (Charlie Sheen) and James St. James (Emilio Estevez). They share an apartment and Carl likes to stare out the window and watch his neighbors with binoculars, espechially the woman across the way.

Not okay.

He finds her beautiful and has memorized her whole routine-that’s creepy.

SUPER creeped

James and Carl are trashmen and not happy about their job, it pays the bills but what they really want is to have their own surf shop. They are also in a prank war with some other trashmen and have two cops who hate them.

They take care of the trash but are the worst trashmen ever. It is hilarious how they just toss the cans everywhere, go through the trash and take some things, etc.

From Clueless

Meanwhile, the Mayor was approached by his campaign manager, Susan Wilkins (Leslie Hope). She gives him a tape with a rap on it for his campaign but he ignores her, takes the tape he made the night before and takes it to the police chief. He plays it, but you guessed it-he took the wrong tape. He runs out to find Susan-while the police chief contacts Potterdam. Yep, you guessed it-he’s a dirty cop.

The worst!

That night the guys are hanging out and playing trivial pursuit. They notice a ruckus across the way when the mayor comes over. He’s yelling about a tape and pushes Susan. Carl gets upset and when Susan goes downstairs to look for the tape Carl gets his pellet gun and shoots him in the butt.

From Supernatural

The guys laugh as he screams in pain and they hide missing seeing some hitmen come in and garrote the mayor and remove his body.The mob men are supposed to take him and dump his body, but the two hitmen start arguing about music and they don’t realize that they have lost the body, he slips and falls into a trashcan.

That’s not good.

The next day the boys are called in to work early and read the riot act because they’ve had so many complaints. The boss’ brother-in-law needs a job, so he’ll be watching them, Vietnam vet Louis Fedders (Keith David).

They both are having a hard time working with him, as they don’t want to be “observed”. As they are taking out the trash they find the body and think Carl killed him. They both start freaking out.  Can’t they tell he wasn’t shot but garroted?

Thank goodness for the Louis. He points out to the guys that he wasn’t shot but garroted. They decide to take the body with them as hey don’t have a good relationship with the cops. This seems like a very bad idea.

They discuss this and are overheard by rivals at work-uh oh not good.

So they go out to try and discuss what must have happened and I love how Louis gets defensive about his fries. There are something a man (or woman) never shares.

Louis: There are several sacred things in this world that you don’t *ever* mess with. One of them happens to be another man’s fries. Now, you remember that, and you will live a long and healthy life.

They share about what they saw last night and Carl decides to go over and get information from the girl across the apartment. Louis and James will watch from their apartment with the pellet gun in case she turns deadly. Louis turns out to not be helpful to James as he starts to lose his grip on reality and thinking he is in Vietnam again.

That’s not good.

So while the guys are waiting they order a pizza and when he pizza guy delivers it he sees the dead body. Louis ties him up and he is along for the ride.

James: [offering a slice of pizza to the pizza delivery man] Are you hungry? Would you like some?

Louis: [having a Vietnam flashback] Don’t give him any, James.

James: Why not? He might be hungry.

Louis: He’s a prisoner; he should be treated accordingly.

James: Have you completely lost your mind? We’re not soldiers and he’s not the enemy. He’s a pizza man.

So Carl gets with Susan, lying and telling her that he’s a doctor. She’s actually into him and wants to go off to the beach. The rest of the group follows-Louis, James, the Pizza guy, and the dead mayor.

Meanwhile, the cops pull over James and Louis-although Louis uses he pellet gun to disarm them and the hitmen are after Susan and Carl.

That’s not good.

Susan and Carl cut a break when the hitmen get distracted by their bickering, they are really unprofessional, Hitman Biff gets mad that Mario bought a taser, “it was on sale”, instead of using a gun and makes fun of him again. That’s the last straw. He decides to use the taser on his partner.

Biff: [Biff is slowly coming to after Mario blasted him with a taser gun] Ooohhhh… what happened?

Mario: Man, it was something. You got struck by lightning.

Biff: Really?

Mario: Freak storm.

Susan and Carl are running and Carl scared spits out that he lied and that he isn’t a doctor but a trashman, and his name is Carl, and he watched her from across the way and saw the fight. When Susan hears that he was spying she slaps him twice, but she still takes off with him as he’s a better option than the hitmen.

What the group doesn’t know is that Carl and James’ coworkers have tracked them down to play a prank on them and have cut the brake and gas line. One of them drops their cigarette so when Carl and Susan reach it, boom it explodes.

The hitmen catch up to Susan and Carl and kidnap them, taking them to Potterdam and they get sealed in containers to be dumped.

That’s not good.

James, Louis, the Pizza man, and the dead body chase after them and we have a great scene where James and Carl are hanging on the gates of a truck screaming.

So they find Susan but they still have to deal with Potterdam. They end up going through the trash and creating a little carnival of horror to freak Potterdam out and stop him. Even the pizza guy joined in. It’s hilarious.

This movie is crazy, but in a good way. It was hilarious, fun, and I loved it. After I watched it I had to show my sister and friend.

For more Emilio Estevez, go to Don’t You Forget About Me

For more spying on the neighbors, go to One Day You’ll See Something You Shouldn’t: Rear Window (1954)

For more kidnapping, go to Super Power Girl, Blackmail, Gangsters, and a Serial Kidnapper: Strong Woman Bong Soon (2017)

Scottish Oat Scones

So at the end of last month, my book club met and discussed the book The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie. Typically we just have light snacks, but as I didn’t have to work due to the quarantine, I decided I would do a little tea party.

And eat scones!

We had egg salad sandwiches, ham and cheese sandwiches, french fries (pommes pont neuf), Scottish Oat scones, lemon curd, lemon crinkle cookies, and meyer lemon poppyseed cake. Instead of putting all the recipes in one post and making it too long, I decided to break it up and share each recipe separately so that if interested, you can make your own and eat it with a cup of tea and some Jane Austen.

Today’s scone recipe I found on pinterest, but originally comes from Lisa’s Kitchen. 

Ingredients:

• 1.5 Cups of Flour
• 2 Cups of Rolled or Steel Cut Oats
• 1/4 Cup of Sugar
• 4 Teaspoons of Baking Powder
• 1/2 Teaspoon of salt
• 1 Large Egg
• 1/2 Cup of Unsalted Butter (1 stick), melted
• 1/3 Cup of Milk

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and grease or line a baking sheet.
2. In a large bowl combine flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
3. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients.
4. In small bowl, beat the egg until frothy.
5. Now add butter and milk to egg, and whisk to combine.
6. Pour into dry ingredients and mix together until you have a soft dough.
7. Shape and pat the dough into two 6-7 inch circles.
8. Cut into 6-8 pie shaped wedges and bake 10-15 mins, or until golden brown.
9. Let cool for a few minutes.
10. Serve with butter and/or jam.

This were very good, but the dough was a little dry which made it hard to stick together, ad after they baked they crumbled. I think if I was to make them again I would add a little more milk.

Otherwise these were delicious! I could see making them again and again and enjoy them.

Or scones!

For more scone recipes, go to Irish Blueberry Scones

For more recipes, go to Ginger Cardamom Meyer Lemon Crinkle Cookies

For more tea parties, go to Meyer Lemon Poppyseed Cake

For more pinterest recipes, go to Iced Blackberry Infused Earl Grey Tea

Ginger Cardamom Meyer Lemon Crinkle Cookies

So the last week my book club met and discussed the book The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie. Typically we just have light snacks, but as I didn’t have to work due to the quarantine, I decided I would do a little tea party.

In the book, The Secret Adversary, the two main characters go to tea a few times at Lyons Tea Cafe. I originally wanted to try to make something like the tea shop would have, but then my coworker gave me a whole box of Meyer’s Lemons.

What am I going to do with all these?

So instead we had egg salad sandwiches, ham and cheese sandwiches, french fries (pommes pont neuf), Scottish Oat scones, lemon curd, lemon crinkle cookies, and meyer lemon poppyseed cake. Instead of putting all the recipes in one post and making it too long, I decided to break it up and share each recipe separately so that if interested, you can make your own and eat it with a cup of tea and some Jane Austen.

And eat cookies!

This recipe comes from Pineapple & Coconut. 

Ingredients:

Cookies:

• 2 Cups + 2 Tbsps of Flour
• 1.5 Tsp of Ground Ginger
• 1.5 Tsp of Cardamom
• 2 Tsp of Baking Powder
• 3/4 Tsp of Salt
• 1 Cup of Sugar
• 4 Tbsp of Meyer Lemon’s Zest
• 10 Tbsp of Unsalted Butter, Room Temperature
• 2 Large Eggs, Room Temperature
• 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2 Tbsp of Meyer Lemon’s Juice

Topping:

• 1 Cup of Sugar
• 1 Cup of Powdered Sugar (Confectioners Sugar)

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl whisk together flour, cardamom, ginger, baking powder, and salt.
2. In a separate bowl combine sugar and lemon zest. Rub the zest between your fingers until it is fully mixed in with the sugar.
3. Cream butter and sugar-zest mixture together on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3-4 mins.
4. Add eggs in one at a tim, mixing well.
5. Add in vanilla extract and lemon juice, and mix again.
6. Add flour and mix slowly until combined, do not over mix.
7. Chill dough 3-4 hours.
8. Preheat the oven 350 degrees F.
9. Place the sugar in one bowl and powdered sugar in the other.
10. Take the chilled dough and roll into 1.5 Tbsp sized balls.
11. Roll in sugar first, then roll in powdered sugar-making sure it is completely covered.
12. Place dough on prepared sheets about two inches apart.
13. Bake for 9-11 minutes or until edges are golden.

These cookies were delicious!

I could not stop eating them!

No, stop! Alright.

If you like lemon and cookies, you should defintely make these!

And proper quarantine masks.

For more cookie recipes, go to Crispy, Chewy, Matcha Green Tea Cookies

For more recipes, go to Meyer Lemon Poppyseed Cake

For more tea parties, go to Literary Tea Parties

Meyer Lemon Poppyseed Cake

So the last Monday of the month our book club meets to discuss the book we have been reading. I used to have Mondays off and we would go out after the other book club members got off, but my job changed and we now meet after I get off at 5. Typically we just have light snacks, but as this Monday I didn’t have to work due to the quarantine, I decided I would do a little tea party.

The book we had just finished reading wasThe Secret Adversary, and the two main characters go to tea a few times at Lyons Tea Cafe. The book is set in 1921, and I tried to find a menu of the time but couldn’t.

I did find one from 1913 which did included pommes pont neuf and a few other things. I had decided what to make when my coworker gave me a whole box of Meyer’s Lemons.

That’s not good.

We had been talking about the lemons as I shared I wanted to try making lemon curd, as I have more free time, but I thought she was just going to give me one or two, not a box full.

Uh oh

So instead of what sweets I planned to make, we were doing a lemon theme.

So we had egg salad sandwiches, ham and cheese sandwiches, french fries (pommes pont neuf), Scottish Oat scones, lemon curd, lemon crinkle cookies, and meyer lemon poppyseed cake. And we all had a wonderful time talking about our book, snacking, and drinking tea.

After all:

I had planned to share each recipe with you, starting with the scones, but then Marnie Cannon on instagram asked about the cake recipe, so instead we will be starting with that. But I will still share the others throughout the month. If any interest you, I encourage you to try them out.

This recipe comes from Browned Butter Blondie.

Cake Ingredients:

• 1/2 Cup of Butter at Room Temperature
• 1 Cup + 1 Tbsp of Sugar
• 3 Large Eggs at Room Temperature
• 1.5 Tbsps of Lemon Zest
• 2 Tbsps of Lemon Juice
• 1.5 Tsp of Vanilla
• 1.5 Cups + 2 Tbsp of Flour
• 1/2 Tsp of Salt
• 1/4 Tsp of Baking Soda
• 1/4 Tsp of Baking Powder
• 1.5 Tbsp of Poppyseeds
• 1/2 Cup of Plain Greek Yogurt at Room Temperature

Glaze Ingredients:

• 1 Cup of Confectioner’s Sugar (Powdered Sugar)
• 3-4 Tbsps of Whole Milk

Directions:

1. Preheat the ovem to 350 degrees F.
2. Spray a 9 x 4 inch loaf pan with cooking spray.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda. Set aside.
4. Use an electric mixer to beat the sugar and butter together.
5. Add the eggs one at a time and beat well after each egg.
6. Add lemon zest, lemon juice, and vanilla. Mix until combined.
7. With the mixer on low add some of the flour mixture, and mix.
8. Then add the yogurt and mix. Repeat alternating between flour mixture and yogurt.
9. Remove from mixer and mix in poppyseeds, but just until they are incorporated. Do not overmix.
10. Pour batter into pan and cook for 55-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.
11. Remove from oven and cool for 10 mins.
12. While cake is cooling, whisk confectioner’s sugar and milk together.
13. While cake is warm, spoon the glaze over the top.
14. Sprinkle with poppyseeds if desired.

This was extremely delicious! If you like lemon and lemon cake I suggest you try it out for yourself.

For more recipes, go to Irish Soda Bread

For more desserts, go to Crispy, Chewy, Matcha Green Tea Cookies

For more tea parties, go to Literary Tea Parties

When Potatoes Go Bad: Attack of the Killer Spuds (1999)

Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t out to get you

I love Archie Comics, as I grew up reading them. My mom introduced me to them as she used to read the comics when she was a kid. The TV show based on Archie’s Weird Mysteries is based off a spin off series of the same name, and they used to air the animated show every Saturday morning.

This episode is pretty creepy as it always makes me think of Invasion of the Body Snatchers and “Boys! Raise Giant Mushrooms in Your Cellar” from Ray Bradbury’s Machineries of Joy.

So the episode starts out with Jughead and Archie driving down to the TV station. Jughead had been watching a B Horror film movie marathon the night before, and saw that they were having a contest. He answered the questions correctly and became the big winner.  As he can’t drive he asks Archie to help him collect his prize.

When Jughead gets to the station it turns out that his prize is a POTATO

Jughead isn’t that happy about it, but like who would be? You can get those at any grocery store. But Jughead is nicer than I as he takes his freebie and goes on home. When Jughead gets home, he parks himself back on the couch and starts watching more TV, getting into the “zone”. He is so focused that he fails to realize that the potato is not your average spud. It starts to take over, creating its own Jughead creation, very much like in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, when they make the pod people.

The next day, Jughead is acting strangely. He is standing in a pot trying to “absorb nutrients”; he hands out potatoes to everyone, calling them his “friends”, and when Reggie starts eating French Fries Jughead freaks out. All are shocked at this behavior as Jughead has eaten more fries than anyone they’ve ever known.

That night at Betty’s house, Archie and Betty are watching a television program. Betty gets so engrossed in the show that the potato Jughead gave her earlier catches her off guard and she is about to be taken over, but Archie manages to save her. Afterwards, they decide to talk to Jughead about his new potato ‘friends’.

Soon Jughead’s potato friends have sprouted and taken over everyone in the town.

Eventually even Betty gets trapped and the only ones who are still “alive”, are Archie and Dilton. The two team up and discover that the potatoes must be coming from the TV studio, that is where it all began.

When they get there, unfortunately the potato zombies are there and attacking.

Archie and Dilton try to climb up the tower, but Dilton is taken down by one of the potatoes.

It’s up to Archie to save the day. He tries to climb up, but is caught by a potato; he reaches up; attempting to hit the button to destroy the potatoes…..

And he is barely able to make it, but does. All the potatoes burst and are destroyed. Everyone wakes up and are okay.  No one knows where the Great Potato came from or where he has gone, but for now they are safe.

It’s a great story, the perfect amount of creepy and campy; all the tropes you desire.

To start Horrorfest from the beginning, go to I Don’t Belong in the World

For the previous post, go to A Very Scary Story

For more on aliens, go to You’re Gonna Need a Bigger Potato

To buy your own copy, click on the image below: