When most people think of St. Louis style pizza, they think of one place: Imo’s.  I wanted to think outside of the box (literally) and find the best pizza that wasn’t well known.  I did my research, I ate a lot of pizza, and I came up with the top 5 places in St. Louis to get St. Louis style pizza (believe me it wasn’t easy.)

5. At number 5 I would have to say Serra’s Pizzeria in Maryland Heights, Mo.  It has been around since 1970 and has been family owned and operated since.  They use the freshest ingredients and it really shows.  Their fresh garlic is what really makes the pizza stand out to me.  Serra’s goes by, “one taste and you’ll agree, our pizza is the best!”  Well, it sure is one of the best I’ve ever had.

4.  Coming in at number four, I would have to say Nicoletti’s.  While they are known for their steak and pasta, don’t be fooled.  Their St. Louis style pizza is out of this world.  My favorite at Nicoletti’s is the bacon and onion.  The bacon is extremely crispy and it just works really well together.  Nicoletti’s is located off of Big Bend Road in Twin Oaks, Mo.  You won’t be disappointed.

3.  For the third best St. Louis style pizza, I chose Café Manhattan.  There is no website for Café Manhattan but it isn’t really needed.  Drive there once for pizza and you will remember exactly where it is.  Right in the heart of Clayton, you will fall in love with this cracker crust.  Even a review on Yelp said that someone who was not a pizza eater really enjoyed this “yummy provel pizza.”   Café Manhattan is a school diner look and it might take you back to your grade school days where of course pizza days were the best days!

2.How did that chant we used to sing growing up go?  First is the worst.. Second is the best.. Well first is definitely not the worst in this case but second might be tied with first as far as being the best goes.  I am talking about Farotto’s pizza.  Not Villa Farottos in Chesterfield Valley either.  The original Farottos off Manchester Road in Rock Hill has been a St. Louis establishment since the mid 60s.  Their pizza and salad lunch special is my favorite with hamburger and garlic for my toppings.

  Farotto’s started out as a family owned pizzeria with only a few pastas, limited seating, and a carry out service and boy, have they came a long way!

1. And as it always goes the best is saved for last which has got to be O’B Clark’s in Brentwood.  O’B Clark’s is known for bar food but their pizza is so delicious that right now I have one hand on my keyboard and the other on my phone.  The sauce is really what makes O’B's pizza stand out more then any other St. Louis style pizza in the area.  It has a sweet flavor to it which makes the pizza sing and not only that very addicting.  I would tell you how many pieces I have eaten at once but I know you would judge me.  Their pizza comes out in a rectangular shape and their veggies are always fresh and cut to the perfect size.

The top five pizza places were hard to put in order because they all are really great St. Louis style pizzas.  If you like cracker crust and you feel like having cheese stick to the roof of your mouth, you now have five new great places to check out.

Kevin James said it best when he said, “There is no better feeling in the world than a warm pizza box on your lap.”

 Hmm, I wonder if he has ever had St. Louis style?

Thinking of seeing the new Johnny Depp movie?  The trailers and previews that have appeared on television make “The Rum Diary” out to be a hilarious movie.  Well, if you have watched those trailers or seen those commercials, you don’t have to go spend over $10 to see the entire film.  Every funny or comical scene in the nearly two-hour movie was put into the commercials.  That leaves a good amount of down time.

Another downfall of the commercials: they don’t tell the actual story.  It is difficult to pinpoint the plot of Depp’s latest movie simply because there isn’t one.  The movie is based on the novel written by Hunter S. Thompson fictionally accounting for his experiences in Puerto Rice in the late 50s.  Thompson wrote his novel early on in his career, yet was not published until years later.  It is obvious why this happened, seeing how disappointing the adaption to film was.

Depp plays Paul Kemp, a journalist who takes a job writing for an English-speaking newspaper in Puerto Rico.  The paper is known by Americans on the small island for writing stories about who won the latest jackpot at one of the casinos or who bowled a perfect game.  It is not the most accredited newspaper and Kemp joins the staff has the paper is running itself into the ground.

Kemp fits in wonderfully into the Puerto Rican culture which is characterized as being full of late nights and rum.  Playing a drunk, yet again, obviously comes easy to Depp.  He does not do a bad job acting as Kemp, but he does not physically fit the part.  Kemp comes across to the audience as a young man who has not exactly found his niche in life.  He wanders around during the film trying to find his role in the world, a reason for his coming to Puerto Rico.  Depp is just too old to be playing a young, naïve journalist.

The movie reflects its main character.  As Kemp wanders around Puerto Rico drunk, the movie wanders around a loose and boring plot.  A love interest (Amber Heard as Chenault) appears, disappears, and reappears again at the end in a text wrap-up.  There is no reason why Chenault and Kemp get along so well apart from a physical attraction.  Kemp and Chenault flirt throughout the movie, but she is engaged to a wealthy businessman (Sanderson played by Aaron Eckhart) who wants Kemp to join his latest building efforts.  After acting a bit “loose” while at a festival, Chenault’s fiancé kicks her out, forcing her to fall into the arms of love-struck Kemp.  After she leaves Kemp while he is out, the audience is left to think she is only an opportunistic vixen.

Kemp gets involved in a variety of scuffles, including jail time and a business deal with his love interest’s fiancé.  Sanderson wants to turn Puerto Rico into a money machine filled with hotels and needs the writing expertise of Kemp to make his crooked plans sound appealing the native people.  Kemp goes along with the plan at first until he suddenly finds fault in it.  This seems to have more to do with Chenault than the corrupt plans themselves.  Before even meeting Sanderson Kemp wants to expose the terrible conditions of parts of the island, but these efforts fade and are never addressed again.  After Sanderson kicks Kemp out of his business deal, Kemp then wants to expose him in the paper but the editor turned corrupt as well and the paper folds.  Kemp wants to right this wrong too.  Yeah right…

There are plenty of opportunities for action or conflict, but nothing ever happens.  Two hours is entirely too long for a lack luster plot.  Every funny scene occurs in the first thirty minutes leaving the audience to wonder if they are supposed to laugh at the forcibly funny scenes later on in the film.

If you have seen the commercials then you have already seen the best parts of the movie.  I would not suggest seeing it in theaters or even renting the movie.  Compared to some really great films that have come out this year, “The Rum Diary” is a huge disappointment.

Overall grade: C

Set during the scandalous Elizabethan England, “Anonymous” proposes that Shakespeare wasn’t the true author of all those plays and sonnets, and the true author was, in fact, just another man. When people doubt Shakespeare, they usually doubt that one man could have written thirty-seven famous plays and countless poems. The movie takes a different approach, arguing one man did write them; his name just wasn’t Shakespeare.

Courtesy of Sony Pictures.

The real writer, Edward de Vere, Earl of Oxford (Rhys Ifans), hides his identity to protect his prestigious title. The plot jumps back and forth between his early adulthood and middle age. To me, there was a disconnect between the young, proud Earl, played by Jamie Campbell Bower, and Ifans’ older, flamboyant version. There’s royal scheming, frilly costumes and secret love affairs, like de Vere’s liaison with Queen Elizabeth I (Joely Richardson), resulting in an illegitimate child. All the events in de Vere’s life are reflected later in the plays: a murder through a curtain, a forbidden love, a wise man’s fall into insanity.

Sebastian Armesto plays a young, naïve Ben Jonson, who reluctantly helps de Vere gets his plays performed. The real William Shakespeare, played by Rafe Spall, is ironically a rude, illiterate drunk who lies, steals and murders for fame.

Does director Roland Emmerich really believe that the Earl of Oxford wrote the plays? Most likely the director of “Independence Day”, “The Day After Tomorrow” and “2012” knew nothing sells like a good conspiracy theory these days. “Anonymous” isn’t a historically relevant film genuinely trying to prove anything about Shakespeare. It is just a fun what-if with plenty of lust, suspense and intrigue.

If you’re a Shakespeare fan, you’ll love it. If you’re a real Shakespeare fan, you may leave disappointed. What character does Shakespeare’s plays always include? The Fool. Emmerich tries so desperately to be wise, clever and controversial that he makes a fool of the move itself.

Does the authorship really matter, or are the words more important?

Watch the trailer here.

Grade: B

I imagine there is some jealousy in both situations, but from a Cubs fan’s perspective, probably even more so envy.  The Cardinals, like the Packers, seem to be in the mix year after year, while the Cubs on the other hand….you know all too well how that story goes.  Even my father, a lifelong, suffering Cubs fan, said that he couldn’t help but be impressed, and a little envious, as he noticed all the World Series titles and appearances that adorn Busch Stadium as his train pulled into town on his last visit.

Back home my angst is generated from all the White Sox fans I encounter every day. Whether friend or foe, it doesn’t mater; they all possess the capacity to annoy the crap out of me.

Back in 2005, when the Sox won the World Series, I was convinced the Sports Illustrated book that came out to celebrate their championship would either be a pop-up book or a scratch-n-sniff.  All I know is, listening to sports radio back home, White Sox fans tend to discuss, in ascending order, Sox success, Sox failure and the Cubs.  I didn’t think it got much worse.  But you Cards fans here are equally unoriginal. It’s been 103 years!? Really? Huh, I didn’t know that….

Then my dad and I attended our first Maryville Family Night on Oct. 14.  Your emcee was stopping the trivia questions, sometimes two times per question, to give a Cardinal-Brewer update!  Since you’ve been here before, feel free to act like it once in a while.  I admit, if the Cubs ever win a World Series in my lifetime – please, Theo – I imagine that’s how the majority of Cubs nation will behave. But we won’t know any better! You have world class hospitals and an Art museum.  There’s no need to be Odessa, Texas, the town of 8,000 or so people from ‘Friday Night Lights’.  And please, please, for both our sakes, try and grasp the Pujols situation.  And don’t, DON’T, compare him to Lebron.

If Albert leaves, he’s not bailing in his prime because he doesn’t feel he can get it done where he’s at.  Pujols has had one of the best baseball decades in history with the Cardinals, including two Championships, and now the man wants to be paid.  So you can be crushed, you can me mad, but until he puts on a one-hour special and utters the phrase “I’m taking my talents to the Bronx!”, keep your Lebron comparisons to yourself.

All in all, I guess I will have to sit back and take it, as they say.  To the victor go the spoils!  At least now that baseball season is over, so is St. Louis sports-dominance.  Thank God for the Hawks, the only well-oiled machine of a franchise we have at the moment.  And the recent news of Tony La Russa going away should help a little too.

“Eleven chapters,” I thought.  “How is this possible?  Does my professor not know that I am taking 15 other hours?  Does my professor not know that I have a life? Oh well, I guess I don’t anymore.”

For those of you who have experienced the short but longest 8 weeks of your life know that 11 chapters is not unusual.  A matter of fact in most 8-week classes, it is somewhat common. I remember one week I had read at least 2,000 pages in 5 days.

Not only is the course load heavy, it is almost impossible to keep your attention span for a three-hour classes.  After the first hour and a half, it always seems no matter how interesting the class is, the professor is speaking a different language because I cannot process the information.  It is too much material in too little of a time.  A matter of fact, if it were up to me I think 8 week classes should be banned period.

My first semester at Maryville I ended up in three 8 week classes.  In my first semester at Maryville I think if stress could of killed me, it would have.  So here, I am giving you 8 reasons why you should NEVER take 8-week classes.

#8 Who really wants to read 11 chapters in a week?

#7 Who actually reads 11 chapters in 1 week and remembers the information?

#6  Because you have a life…

#5 Because if you wanted your teacher to speak a foreign language, you would have taken French.

#4  Because Starbucks is expensive and you don’t have $3.75 to spend on a caramel macchiato twice a day.

#3  You actually need time to do your other homework, too.

#2 Without sleep, no one wants to be around you

#1 And finally, because three hours a night is way too long to learn one subject.

People who witnessed your work at an internship also become very good references to have. Even if a company doesn’t have an open position to offer you once your internship is over—they can still recommend you for other positions and may even be able to help you find a job.

Antoine D. Moss, Ph.D. of NASA’s biggest advice for college students, “Intern, intern, intern – Employers want students who have already gotten their hands dirty in the real-world. Therefore you must complete as many internships as you can. Be sure to develop a customized internship plan to achieve your goals while you are interning.”

Many students can get overwhelmed having an internship, attending classes, doing homework and possibly another job while trying to maintain a social life. It can be extremely overwhelming—for a semester or so. They are well worth it though; a semester is not that long to sacrifice your social life. Many internships are only ten hours or so a week. If you budget your time right, ten hours a week doesn’t really affect your life much.

Some internships can be really fun too. Not all internships are getting people coffee and running their errands. Some internships also offer some benefits such as discounts or even stipends at the end of your semester with them. My advice to students is to get an internship, as many as you can, and work your butt off. Kiss ass to everyone that you can. You need references and connections. Network as much as you can and get business cards of everyone you meet. Don’t sacrifice your school work though for internships. Try to plan your time wisely and learn how to balance school, internship, work, and your social life.

Ladies, if your boyfriend is the owner of one of these seasoned head pieces, don’t despair. It may benefit both of you down the line, if you can bare the sight and scent for that long. I’ll tell you why.

The scalp produces natural oils and nutrients that aide the hair in its health and growth; contrarily, we lose a lot of these nutrients when we wash our hair. When he takes his cap off, the smell may not be the best persuasion, but the happenings under the cap all the way down to the root could actually be helping your boy toy maintain a healthy head of hair.

Additionally, chemicals in laundry detergents could affect the scalp over time, clogging hair follicles and causing thinning or early hair loss. Also, washing for any type of clothing causes shrinking which is a major problem for the fellow. If you know your guy and his cap as well as he does, fitted or adjustable, he knows when something has been tampered with. Removing and placing the cap on his head should be a breeze as time and long wear have made it perfectly snug to fit his dome so don’t attempt to give it a little scrub on the washboard, he will find out. For the new guys just breaking in your caps, be patient, it’s going to take a minute.

So, to the ladies, if you can help it-for lack of better pun- put a cap on it. Don’t pester him so much about getting rid of that dirty, smelly hat. It may preserve his youthful locks into his golden age. But if you just can’t stand it, balding men are coming back in style…somewhat.

Happy Dating!

In the immediate aftermath of the Attacks, patriotism was at an all-time high.  We, as citizens of the United States, were neither Liberal nor Conservative that day.  Instead, on that day, we were all simply Americans.  Presently, we could not be further from that ideal sense of unity.  Political extremism seems stronger than it ever has been.  One month after 9/11, President Bush had an approval rating of 92 percent.  Again, 92 percent!  To put that in perspective, that is the highest rating of any President since approval rating became a statistic in 1938 (The Washington Post online).

Along with the overwhelming approval for President Bush’s job performance came overwhelming support for the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Of course, we all know how the approval for Bush and support for the wars completely turned around during Bush’s second term.  Bush’s approval rating dropped to as low as 25 percent on three separate occasions, and it was felt many Americans that the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq lacked purpose.  Eventually, it was anybody in the oval office but Bush, and “change for change sake”.

In 2011, American politics has become a heated debate between the far right and far left, leaving centrists the silent majority.  In the book “Wingnuts” (a wingnut is someone on the far right or far left), John Avlon, senior columnist for Newsweek and The Daily Beast, discusses how extreme Liberals and Conservatives confuse “partisanship with patriotism.”  Another 180 from the start of the post-9/11 era.

America has also changed a lot socially and economically.  America eventually ditched its initial sense of togetherness, for the heightened need for personal comfort and security.  Once we as Americans came to grips with what had happened on September 11, 2001, we wanted to do whatever it would take to prevent a terrorist attack from ever happening again.  Now, air travel has become a completely new experience.  Where we once merely chose between window or isle seat, we now get the choice of “molestation or radiation”.  With metal detectors, full-body scanners, uniformed officers doing their own scans, and shoeless passengers waiting in line to walk through checkpoints, flying is a full-on project. 

In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, Americans didn’t mind how much we spent when it came to our security, including the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.  A few years down the road those feelings would also change, as the increasing national debt and economic disparity have become central issues of the past decade, and many Americans believed that the spending on Afghanistan and Iraq had largely contributed to the current economic status.  Socially, America has become very contradictory.  In some cases, it has become okay to profile, especially when it comes to our security.  However, talking about the race, religion, or sexual preference of another person is often times like playing with fire, as usual someone will take offense.  The workplace in particular has become very sensitive, when it comes to minorities and the social differences of coworkers in general.

The attacks on September 11, 2001 defined the past ten years, and are certainly a turning point in American history.  While America has made great strides in technology, we are now 5th in the World Power Rankings.  Electric cars, gay marriage, and medical marijuana are becoming more prevalent in our society.  As I said before, centrists are now the silent majority in America, and not only in politics.

In the past decade, we as Americans have grown to be very black and white.  You are rich or poor, white or a minority, democrat or republican.  There is still a gray area, though we just don’t hear from it very often.  Along with a divided country, has become a country that is losing faith in its self more and more. 

In reference to the present day America, a girl from my high school once said, “Every world power eventually falls.”  There are a lot of people who feel the same way.  Yet, as we remember the victims of 9/11, and the men and women who have fought to protect our country, the land of opportunity, let us also honor them.  Let’s once again, at least for their sake, just simply be “Americans” and try to keep America the great nation it is.

Courtesy of Google.

Girl in Translation is your typical “rags-to-riches” story, although Kwok still writes an eloquent, poignant account of immigration, poverty, and coming-of-age. Chang and her teachers quickly discover her intelligence, and she is able to escape her social restrictions through her education. From a Chinatown sweatshop to the Ivy League, the story portrays the dichotomy of American life as an immigrant.

One of the most touching parts for me was when Chang goes home with a friend and is shocked by the middle-class luxury (a.k.a. bunk beds and after-school snacks) compared to her own freezing, decrepit apartment in the projects. Also, the simple writing mirrors the narrator’s developing grasp of English language and American society, making the story easily believable. The purpose of a book is not only to entertain but to educate; there is a mixture of hope, love, humor, and grace mixed with realistic descriptions of poverty, racism, and growing-up.

To me, Girl in Translation has such heart! Despite major obstacles, Change stays optimistic, proving the American dream can be earned with perseverance and ambition. How can you not root for characters who, despite facing disadvantage after disadvantage, stay hopeful and happy? I wonder how much of the subject matter follows Kwok’s own experiences with immigration. The author,
too, moved from Hong Kong to Brooklyn and worked in a sweatshop. Years later, she has a Harvard degree and New York Times bestselling novel to prove her success.

Girl in Translation is the fifth book for Maryville Reads. The goal of the program is to engage “the entire campus community in a dialogue about issues of diversity, social justice and/or multiculturalism.” Previous years’ selections were Zeitoun by Dave Eggers, Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, and The Freedom Writers Diary by Erin Gruwell.

Pick up your free copy of Girl in Translation in the University Library!

Courtesy of google images

If you haven’t heard about the newest hot spot in St. Louis, it is time you took a drive downtown and checked out the 360 rooftop bar.  The bar completely overlooks downtown St. Louis and Busch Stadium as well for all you Cardinal lovers.  The rooftop bar advertises itself as “Sip, See, Savor” which is pretty self-explanatory and is exactly how I spent my time there.

The menu varies from pizza, to house smoked salmon chips, to fish tacos.  I had the heirloom tomato and mozzarella salad, which was fresh and delicious.  The rooftop bar has your everyday drinks such as wine, beer, hard liquor, etc. but if you look on top of the bar you will find something very different.  Huge glass containers filled with bright colored drinks that are made in-house.  I had to try the lime green one and it was surprisingly good and refreshing. 

The view is the most important part of the bar, which is really great to look out on.  The bar is setup very contemporarly and if you missed the game, don’t worry there are flat screen TVs all over.  I suggest going to the 360 if you are looking for something different and exciting.  However, make sure you don’t go right after a Cardinals game or you won’t be able to enjoy all 360 has to offer.