Month: January 2008

The Great Kitchen Disaster of January ’08

Friday I got groceries on the way home, then made a spinach salad (craving one for some reason) and heated up a pizza for dinner. We were both pretty tired, didn’t stay up too late. We also slept in big time, 10 hours for me and 12 for Jill. We barely had any time, as we left at 4 for the Birchmere with the Jewells for our annual January Eddie From Ohio show. They’ve been doing three night stands there in January for a little while now, and we try and hit the Saturday one when possible.

We got there early enough that they weren’t letting people in, so we got drinks at the bar at chatted. We got an ok table and ordered food and drinks – Jill got a burger, and I tried the Reuben – ok, but a Reuben should come with Thousand Island dressing, and not require me to create one at the table. The opening act, Sons of the Never Wrong, sounded fine, but the stage antics made us laugh, and not in a good way. Good thing efo’s show was excellent, including new songs from Robbie and Mike, a Joe appearance, and some fine banter. Nice that it’s preserved for posterity as they were selling copies of the audio afterwards.

Sunday I had two big tasks. The first was start some eBay auctions, and that took a while. I didn’t finish until 5, and the first football playoff game was well underway. I caught up soon enough (figured the Pats would win over an injury depleted Chargers), and got into the second quarter of the Packers/Giants frozen clash when I started reading the recipe of the meal Jill had requested, then realized if I finished watching the game then, we’d be eating after 11, so I got started cooking.

And we still ate after 11, but that was partly due to the Great Kitchen Disaster, in which our hero placed a saucepan full of veggies and sauce on a corner of the sink, and you can guess what happened next. That only set me back 45 minutes, but it still was late when we ate. Jill pronounced it worthy of the wait, but it might be another 2-3 years again before it rears its lengthy head.

Thankfully we both had Monday off, so a late night was ok, and I finished watching the game while Jill read. Nice to have three days of sleeping in, but I did have to get going today as I had a massage, then ran a couple errands. I finished off the newspapers, then got in a good couple hours of Super Mario Galaxy. Jill made ravioli for dinner, and now she’s playing Harry Potter while I write this.

Ever wonder

What would happen if someone mashed up Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, The White Stripes and Rick James?

No? Then you won’t want to click here (it really works).

Come with me if you want to live

Yeah, I’m enjoying the new Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. It follows right on the heels of T2 (and ignores T3 as an “alternate timeline”). The casting’s pretty good, best is Summer Glau (from Firefly/Serenity) as the good terminator. It’s tricky to talk about without spoilers (you can watch eps at the website), but time travel has already been a factor, and there’s more than one style of bad terminator. The chemistry between the actors is good, and the plots deliver a good amount of action. I hope the ratings stay good, as I’d like to see this one make it beyond the current 8 episodes. B+

It’s also a perfect show for anyone who thought this should come true:

Movies I’ve watched, weeks one and two

One thing the TV strike has freed up is more time to watch new stuff. Not too much, as the return of Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert is still a much watch (even in their reduced state), and I picked up the Superman and Batman animated series (the Paul Dini led classic). But I still have time for movies, and I want to chronicle those in addition to the books I read.

1. The Departed
A fun ride, definitely shows you Scorsese’s still got it. The ending left me cold, though. B-

2. Children Of Men
Now this is a great movie. Of course I love science fiction, but this is a fascinating future we could face. Clive Owen is just great, and the scene in the camp at the end is just stunning. Very much like Blade Runner, the film just drops you in the middle and you have to figure some of it out for yourself. I think this should have won the Oscar over The Departed. A

3. The Simpsons Movie
Criticized by some as a long episode, I thought it was brilliant. More laugh out loud pieces than they’ve been able to achieve recently, and a storyline that actaully made sense. Plus emotional resonance! B+

Books I’ve read, week two

Yeah, it’s pretty light and I’m out of alphabetical order already, but I did read all of my monthly comics shipment. Plus stay tuned for a new recurring feature.

6. L. Frank Baum’s the Life and Adventures of Santa Claus
Writer: L. Frank Baum Artist: Michael Ploog
He’s known for Oz, but that’s not all he wrote. Adapted into a graphic novel by Michael Ploog, would have been a better read a couple weeks back, but I needed something quick this week. Tells how Santa got his groove back err got his powers, with a healthy dollop of fantasy (pixies and trolls and wolves, oh my!). B-

Ze weekend

Not too much happened.

Ok, I can’t be that brief, there was some fun. Friday was short, Jill was working late. Saturday was good, watched some football and cleaned up before heading over to my company party. This year they held it at Lansdowne, and it was fairly swanky. The food was good, and we got to enjoy casino night. Jill played craps for the first time. and I made lots of money at roulette. Only play money, and that’s ’cause at the end Jill wanted to leave, and I kept putting everything on 2-1 and 3-1 payoffs and kept hitting. I gave all the money to a coworker, but he didn’t end up winning anything. Sunday was lazier, watched the football championships and the Simpsons Movie and read comics. Jill ran a lot of errands, and I made a Buffalo chicken salad for dinner.