The process for getting the Corian countertops is basically: (1) go to home depot, give them the approximate measurements, and pay; (2) someone comes out and makes a precise template, and any payment adjustments are made; (3) they come back and install your completed countertops, including attaching your sink and whatever. The whole thing is supposed to take around three weeks.

Yesterday I did step one, which I figured would be fairly quick, since I had a sketch and all my measurements and knew the color and all the options I wanted. But unfortunately, the kitchen lady I got was completely clueless and I ended up having to teach her how to do her job. There was a nice discount (yay!) but neither she nor two other people could figure out how to apply it to the order, which resulted in someone "going in the back" to work it out with some mysterious other people, while I waited around for like half an hour (good thing I brought a book). Anyway, it's finally taken care of, and now I'm just waiting the call for the template appointment. Fortunately, if we screwed anything up in the plan yesterday, it will be fixed by the template people, who are the actual experts here. In the meantime, I have my lovely plywood countertops.

Five Seasons Grill opened in the last few months right near me, and I was excited to have a vietnamese place so close. Unfortunately, I've been underwhelmed by the food (though other online reviewers and the PI seem pretty impressed). I stopped by this week to try their pho, which I hadn't sampled yet.

I certainly don't understand the reviews that praise the pho to the skies (though I'll forgive the guy who compared it favorably to than brothers -- it was better than dishwater). I found it squarely in the "fine" category. Nothing bad, but nothing really stood out as memorable either. A step above un-pho-gettable from the day before, nice to have in the neighborhood, but not something you'd travel for.

I have to confess it: I think I'm done with the pho thing. Not that I'm tired of pho or don't want to keep exploring, but I've run out of things to say. Seattle has a lot of pretty good pho places, and except for the occasional standout broth, incredible meat, unusual spice mix, or horrible experience, there's not a whole lot for me to say beyond "I went to _____ and hey the pho was pretty good". I'm also having a little trouble keeping them straight. And I got a job (though I still have a week before I start). So I'm probably not going to be reviewing as hard; in fact, I want to revisit a few places and see what I think on the second round (most notably Pho of Aurora, which I may have overrated as my first stop, and Pho Bac, which Peter insists I underrated).

Never on Sunday, despite all its awards and what-not, was so horrible we couldn't finish it. The story is basically "my fair lady" (or pygmalion, if you prefer), with henry higgins being a dumb american who thinks he's a philosopher (and is visiting greece to figure out how the world went wrong), and eliza doolittle being a good-natured greek prostitute. jules dassin as the american is unwatchably wretched (I'm sorry jules, I love you for Rififi but I must speak the truth). part of that is deliberate, since his character seems intended to be a bore and a moron, but even so, he's unwatchable. melina mercouri (dassin's wife) got awards for her performance as the prostitute, but honestly she was pretty bad too. it wasn't really her fault as much as the writer/director's (sorry, jules again), who insisted on making sure every gesture and word out of her mouth said "HAY LOOK AT ME I'M A FREE SPIRIT JUST ENJOYING LIFE AND I CARE NOTHING FOR YOUR CRAZY UPTIGHT RULES!" she is always good naturedly laughing with everyone around her, flirting in a friendly way, spontaneously throwing off her clothes for a swim, etc etc. It's hard to explain exactly why, but I thought it was incredibly grating and cliched. I must be the only one though, since she won all kinds of awards and most commenters on IMDB loved her.

The worst thing about this movie though is that after seeing it (and dassin's "the naked city" which was good but also had its share of goofy sentimentalism), I'm now feeling like I have to watch "rififi" again and look for signs of this awful side of dassin. I will be pissed if I find them.