Once Upon A Time: The Mad Hatter Went Mad

I wanted to do another blog on my new favorite show Once Upon A Time. It seems like it’s still just getting started and we’re already going on episode 18! But each week a new character or more of the story is revealed is introduced and the story gets better and better.

The last show focused on an intriguing character The Mad Hatter and his story. the writers of the show ask how he became the Mad Hatter, in this episode. Does it involve the evil queen?  You bet!

Why was the Mad Hatter called the Mad Hatter, one asks?  I love this show because the writers have attempted to answer all the questions that are just assumed in the stories we know and love. Why exactly did the evil queen hate Snow White so much?  We have yet to learn that answer, but as the story unfolds, we are learning more and more about the main characters’ background. Who is the man in the magic mirror? Each week a new question is asked and answered, but leaving new questions to be answered.

Why are fairy tales so intriguing?  They can be rewritten in a whole new way, changed around and new plots added, deeper levels added.   I know I’ve said this before but I just love the concept, as a writer and a reader to take a old piece and make it fresh! Though, sometimes this can be overdone, if it’s done correctly they can draw in a whole new audience. Recently there have been two rewrites of the original Beauty and the Beast in Beastly, both novel and now a film as well.  Also Red Riding Hood both novel and film (both films came out on DVD this summer!  I will give both A- in my book.) Yes, they are a little cheesy but I thought they were good adaptations of the original.

http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/once-upon-a-time/video/PL55147652/_m_VD55179399

Two weeks ago viewers learned more about Red Riding Hood and why she had to wear her hood.* Spoiler Alert* .  The hood had magic in it!  What was she being protected from or was it she was being prevented from doing something?  I liked how they used elements from both the original and the rewrites.  I won’t tell who the big bad wolf is…

 Check out that episode here

Last week the episode focused on Snow White's obsession with killing the queen. She drank a potion that Rumplestilskin gave her to forget her love. But without that love, she is a whole different person.

Check out this page, it's a really good recap of the episode!

You'll have to watch the episode to find out why they cut off his head (and yes he is still alive)!

Back to the Mad Hatter:  So here’s a little about the latest episode Mad Hatter’s name is Jefferson.  He has a daughter named Grace who is quite mature for a little girl. The Evil Queen offers Jefferson a job that requires “his special skills.”  You see he has a hat that has magic, and that magic hat is the key to Wonderland. And Mister Jefferson hates Wonderland. (clip from the episode!) Well, Evil Queen Regina and Jefferson get to Wonderland and the rules are If Two go through the looking glass, Only Two can go back through, no more, no less.  Well, we then learn that Regina’s father has been kidnapped by the Queen of Hearts. Evil Queen Regina has been racking up the enemies in Fairytale Land! She takes a piece of the mushroom and he grows back to size, just as Alice did. But now there are three and only two can go through. So they left Mad Hatter in Wonderland after he promised his daughter he would return. Here comes The Queen of Hearts’ guards? What happened to him? You’ll just have to watch it and see! I was surprised they didn’t actually show Queen of Hearts’ face, she was wearing a veil. I was wondering why the director or writers choose to do that and I haven’t come up with an answer. 

Check out the full episode here

Many of the main characters!

Looks like we don’t know these stories as well as we thought we did. All of them seem to have unanswered questions and we don’t even stop to think about them! We asked all those questions as children, but when it came to stories like Snow White, we accepted them the way they were and didn’t ask who, what, where, why. I think part of that may be due to the tradition of fairy tales. Like I’ve said in another post, fairy tales weren’t originally so happy dory, many started very dark and the point was to teach children a lesson or to warn them about different things, such as not going into the woods alone at night or not talking to strangers.  Long ago, people truly believed the tales we now know as fairy tales, which have been modified to be more appropriate for children of today and not as dark.

Regina is devastated when Emma cuts down her apple tree! 

The one thing that they spent more time on the show and less time on the commercials, but then it’s like that with any show we get into right? They just seem like they could be longer and are purposely cut short sometimes. But the writers still did a good job from my perspective.

Here’s a look at what’s in store for this week.  I can’t wait and I’ll actually be off work in time to get home and watch it on TV and not on my computer!  Yipee! This is my one hour of TV a week, so don’t judge me.

The reason the Evil Queen hates Snow White supposed to be revealed in this episode!!! 

El Charro: Quaint and Authentic Mexican Food!

Information:

Times of Operation:

Monday- Thursday, and Sunday 11am to 10 pm
Friday and Saturday 11am to 11 pm

Location:

1779 S. Glenstone Ave.Springfield, Missouri417-886-1444

El Charro has the charm of just about every Mexican restaurant where I’ve eaten.  The decorations were delightful and had the traditional Hispanic flair, with bright colors and a touch of southwestern décor, and Hispanic music playing softly on the speakers throughout the restaurant.

My group went  at about 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 8 for an early dinner. There were only a few parties in the restaurant at the time and we were seated promptly. We ordered drinks and the waiter brought some chips and salsa. The salsa tasted homemade.  Having an early dinner seemed like a great idea before the dinner rush. We were served quickly and our drinks never ran low.

Three waiters shared the service for our table, which is an interesting trait of the restaurant. It seemed as though they shared the tables and helped each other out and they took good care of their customers.  This is reminiscent of the Hispanic culture. They are very family oriented and many Mexican restaurants  are owned by a single family. It was nice to see that they were happy to share.  The restaurant is family oriented, with Hispanic music playing softly in the background and a cheery atmosphere with plenty of natural lighting.

There are four locations to choose from , two in Springfield and two in Ozark. The restaurant visitied is located on Glenstone and Sunshine next to the Midnight Rodeo. I was interested in the restaurant because I drive by it many times a week on the way to work.  I never had the chance to stop. It seemed like a nice friendly place to eat Mexican food.

To start we ordered the guacamole dip with chips. The guacamole tasted fresh and delicious. The salsa was served (free of charge), as it is at many (though not all) Mexican restaurants.  The chips were served warm and fresh. Sometimes my family would joke that we went to the Mexican restaurants for the free appetizers that half-filled us up by the time we got our food.

I tried the taco salad fajita shrimp.  The menu lists the item as having 15 shrimp cooked with sautéed onions, bell peppers and tomatoes, covered with lettuce sour cream and pico de gallo ( fresh salsa delicioso!) . Though I’m not sure there were actually 15 shrimp on the plate, I will forgive them. My two favorite Mexican specialties are fajitas and taco salads. This item was a fusion of both which caught my eye quickly, and after a couple of bites I decided that the fusion worked well for the dish.

Alex had the Aranada’s cheesesteak. This is quite a unique plate. When you think of cheesesteak, one thinks of Philly cheese-steak, but here is it a unique twist of an American favorite!  This plate has grilled steak with  onions and special cheese sauce served in three flour tortillas. These are served with lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, and rice. I tried a piece of his and the flavor was not what I expected. It was much better than I had thought and different at the same time. It is interesting how they can make anything tasty in a tortilla shell.

Martha ordered the tacos de carne asada. This plate I am familiar with because it is what my father always ordered at the Mexican restaurant we near his house. This plate is three tortillas stuffed with steak or chicken and served with beans, pico de gallo and a tomatillo sauce. The flavor was unique, though it was not the same as the ones my father always ordered, the dish was good, but not quite the same. Worse, no, different yes. The difference lies in the flavor, however, I cannot pick out exactly what makes it different in the flavor.

We ended with two different desserts the flan, a Mexican dessert and the fried ice cream. I don’t particularly care for the flan, I’ve tried it before, and the texture bothered me. However, I did try the fried ice cream. I’ve always wondered how they fry ice cream seeing how it melts so quickly at room temperature. The ice cream is in rolled in a crunchy pastry and served in a sugared tortilla shell, topped with whipped cream, chocolate drizzle and sprinkles with a cherry to top it all off.  It was actually quite tasty. I’ve only ever tried it once, but this one was served a bit differently and was much better than the first time. Maybe next time I go to a Mexican restaurant I will ask how they fry the ice cream.

The slogan on the sign says Authentic Mexican food. The options on the menu proved the slogan to be true. There were several items that I had never seen before on a Mexican restaurant's menu. For example, flautas, I had never heard of, nor had I heard of pollo tapatio.  Both sounded very tasty and definitely authentic. I have just recently found a liking for Mexican food, so I am new to some of the more exotic delicacies.

With Lunch specials starting at $4.99 for some tacos or tamales, you cannot beat the prices. The most expensive Lunch menu item is only $7.29 for some yummy fajitas or plenty of other options in lunch-sized portions.

With authentic Mexican food, you can’t go wrong. The food was delicious, the service was better than average and the atmosphere quaint and familiar. The prices are low and the location is close to home.  Would I recommend the place to a friend? Absolutely, friends, family, children, or just an acquaintance, parties or just a luncheon, it seems like a great place to go for a quiet get-together.

Each Hispanic restaurant have different recipes from different parts of Mexico and different parts of Central and South America, and that  is what I think entices Americans with the food. This restaurant, though in a small location serves great food. Sometimes you have to search for great food and sometimes the best places are the ones you wouldn’t even guess.  I will call this restraunt one of those places.

Blast from the Past: The Jetsons Vs.The Flinstones

If you could meet one of these families which would it be?  

I think I would definitely choose The Flintstones they were always my favorite, plus on long car rides in the winter we would listen to The Flinstones’ Christmas on cassette tape. I loved listening to that story.

I loved both of these shows when I was little and watched the reruns (and especially the mararthons were fun) If I remember correctly they came on at 11 and 12 in the morning. So these were great during the summer.  My grandma didn’t let us play outside very much so we watched shows on cartoon network, mainly Flintstones, Jetsons, and Scooby-doo.

Flintstones:

 Takes place in the past around 10,000 b.c. , where the machines are run by dinosaurs and even though there are some things that just don’t make sense to have in a Stone Age setting (say Christmas for example) it’s a comedy, it’s not supposed to make sense, it’s supposed to be for fun.

The Flintstones first aired from 1960 to 1966 on ABC by Hanna-Barbara Productions. There have also been full-length films and a couple of live action adaptations. But as far as I’m concerned the original was the best.

The cartoon centers around a working-class Stone Age man (Fred Flintstone) and his family(Wilma, his wife and later Pebbles, his daughters) and his next door neighbor and best friend (Barney and Betty) and later Bam-Bam.

Facts people may or may not know.

In 2009, IGN named The Flinstones as the ninth best in its “Top 100 Animated TV Shows”. That’s 50 years after the original series ended.  I wish I had cable so I could watch the re-runs. I do not think any animated series has been better. ( The Jetsons come close in rivalry but still make second in my book.)

The Flinstones were the first cartoon series made for adults, as reflected in the writing, of course. And it was

The Flintstones were orginally going to be called The Flagstones

At least two Flintstones-themed amusement parks exist in the United States: Bedrock City in Custer, South Dakota and another in Valle, Arizona. Both have been in operation for decades.

This park is open year round in Arizona

 The one in South Dakota. Both look pretty cool for fans. 

The Jetsons

Counterpart to The Flintstones also produced by Hanna-Barbara.

Setting: Future

The setting is supposed to be 100 years after the series ran so 2062? Probably not very realistic now, but at the time it was produced was the when our country was building the first space shuttle and so we can see how this is what sparked the imagination! Flying cars, robots for maids, and talking dogs, oh my! We could definitely dream big!

Characters:

This show features George Jetson and his family living in Orbit City. His wife Jane, his teenage daughter Judy and son Elroy and we can’t forget Astro the dog.

This show originally only aired for about a year 1962- 1963. Then again from 1985-1987.

Here's the promo for the original show

Love it!

Comparing the two

One from the  distant past, One from the future, but both ran at the same time. I wish I had lived in the sixties to have seen the show air then and see people’s reaction. Both shows have been very successful, hence they’re still around and play reruns! Both shows put use references to the modern world see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flinstones. I thought this was clever of the writers. Though if I could pick one, it would still be the Flinstones.

One movie that I did enjoy was The Jetsons meet The Flinstones. This was a neat idea that blended the two series together. I remember when I was little I would tell the TV that they should meet each other, it would be cool for the reactions of the characters in the other worlds.  In the movie, they switched places for a week and enjoyed the others’ lifestyles.

One thing I noticed was that the (main and secondary) female characters, i.e. Wilma, Betty, Jane, Judy, and even Rosie the robot were all strong characters who were portrayed as somewhat more intelligent than their counterparts. Watching clips from these shows with the knowledge of literature I didn’t have before makes me see things I didn’t see then.

Which one had better writing? 

Both The Jetsons and The Flintstones used characteristics of a  typical 1960s family the working dad, the homemaker wife and children, and we can't forget the pets.

However the differences lie in the plots. The Flintstones seemed to be much more sustainable and funnier to me. 

The Animation was also similar for both shows

So, which show family would you rather meet?






For some more detailed information about the shows: (this is where I got some of the facts that I didn't know)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jetsons
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flinstones