Sir, I’m going to need you to Walk the Line

I’ve put off the second review long enough. As I said previously I saw two movies over Thanksgiving break. As you can guess I saw Walk the Line about Johnny Cash.

I’m not going to beat around the bush here. I recommend this movie to anyone who is a fan of Cash. It evokes an almost perfect combination of respect, dislike, and sympathy. Joaquin Phoenix does an unbelievable job as Cash. I say that because it’s sometimes hard to not see Cash standing there.

I watched Ray earlier, and I think this one has it beat. I recommend all Johnny Cash fans go see this movie, even those that aren’t big Cash fans may change their tune. I say go. Go even if it requires full price and skipping supper. Just make sure the theater has good sound, because you really don’t want to miss that.

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Geeking out a bit.

I’m gonna geek out a bit here about two things.

First I added a banner to the top of my blog for ChildsPlayCharity.org. This is a charity organization set up by the good people over at Penny Arcade. I frequent their web comic. Several years ago they started ChildsPlay in response to the media and individuals blaming games and gamers for many of the problems that society has always had. As a response a quickly organized charity system was set up for gamers. The response was overwhelming, and has now grown into a huge organization. There is not organization overhead. 100% of money and items donated is sent directly to the children’s hospitals to provide games, movies, and fun for children there. Please read the about page for more information. I’ve personally placed a donation for myself and as a Christmas present to someone else. Here’s to the season of giving.

As a small geeky edition, Mozilla has released version 1.5 of their wildly popular web browser Firefox. I recommend that everyone try this browser at least once. It’s also a smart idea to have at least two web browsers on your machine anyway.

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I Rented a seat

Like I said before my mother, brother, and I went to see Rent Thanksgiving afternoon. I feel a little sorry for the people who work on Thanksgiving afternoon. I hope they get a bonus. Anyway, everyone else went to see Harry Potter, but I had already seen it. My brother hadn’t, but he expected to see it with some friends. I think my mother was just glad to have someone who wanted to see a musical. So we ditched the other crowd and rambled along our own way.

As I have mentioned before, I have a soft spot in my heart for musicals. I’m not exactly sure why. Maybe it’s because I remember watching all those old musicals on TV with my godmother. Maybe it’s that I have always had a love of music. (That’s the reason I can’t have music playing in the background. I always end up giving it too much attention, rather that what I am supposed to be doing.) Anyway, Rent is a musical, so many people will either like it or dismiss it. I fall into the former.

I give musicals a lot of leeway. They are an entity that exists outside the realm of normal movies. Some are made to merely fill time with choreographed song and a little romance, Calamity Jane. Some are merely to entertain with absurdity, Little Shop of Horrors. Some seek to bridge age gaps, The Nightmare Before Christmas. Some seek to give life lessons and change our view of the world, Man of La Mancha. And some wish to tell a story of learning to love, My Fair Lady. Musicals are different from movies. In many ways they are more difficult and in some ways easier. Consequently, I judge them by different standards.

Well Rent wasn’t quite what I expected it to be, but it was a lot closer to what I expected than to what was advertised. Some of the advertisements made it seem like the feel good movie of the year. I’ll tell you right now that it’s got a little too much AIDS, sex, death, and heartache to be advertised like that.

I have to say I liked it. I really enjoyed the movie. There are some darned good singers and dancers in there, and the choreography was pretty energetic through most of the good times. The quality of the songs was a little on again off again, and the songs and stories seemed to fight a little at times. However, fight was an interesting conflict added to the conflict between the characters and life. Like I said, I give musicals a lot of leeway.

I recommend the movie to anyone who likes musicals, but by no means expect to come away happy. You might even need to take some tissues with you. I recommend seeing it at a matinee for all musical lovers, and go to some place with good sound.

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Turkey Days Past

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving, or at least a good break from work.

I went with my parents and siblings to Atlanta to visit my cousin and her family. We had a great time, and partook of a great abundance of food. Like I said before, my family likes food, and the best holidays always revolve around family and food.

After the usual feasting, we succumbed to a kind of tradition. After one finally moved into my home town, my family started taking Thanksgiving afternoon to go to the movies. Since we were in Atlanta, we went there with my cousin’s family (6 children). I had already seen Harry Potter, which is what they wanted to see. So, my mother, my brother, and I went to see something else. I’ll tell you what that is in another post.

We went home the following day, and while I was in my home town we decided to see another movie, which I will also talk about later. I was just wondering I anyone else had a thanksgiving afternoon tradition they liked?

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Prepare for Potterization

Last Friday evening I went with some friends to see the new Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. It took me until today to write this because I was out of town Saturday and Sunday, and I had other obligations yesterday. I’ll ramble on about it shortly, probably without spoilers.

We got our 8 PM show tickets about 2.5 hours ahead of time, and then ate supper. We arrived and seated ourselves about 30 minutes before the movie, and I can say I am glad. We had 11 people and if we had gotten there 5 minutes later we would have had a time getting seats.

Oh and I haven’t read the books yet. I’ve got about 18 books on my dresser right now. When I get those down to a few I’ll look at the Potters.

So, it was a Harry Potter movie. It was one of a series. It was based on a long book. And the movie watched as if it were all those things. This movie was very Harry-centric. The other characters didn’t get as large an amount of screen time or plot importance. The movie assumed you knew certain things from the previous movies. It also didn’t have a spectacular ending. Most of that is caused by the adaptation coming from a long book. Once you have to boil down the book into a short enough story for a movie you end up cutting out a lot of the nuance that the readers love. I am really hoping that the next book might appear as two movies.

As a movie I think it was right good. It was obvious where some of the parts were cut and the story seemed rushed, but overall it was quite good. The actors are getting a little along in years, but it’s still manageable so far. It’s not the same kids’ movie the series started out as, but neither are the books.

If you liked the first 3 movies, then you should like this one. I recommend you go see it, even if you have to see it at full price. Oh, and you might get to see the new Chronicles of Narnia trailer. Yeah, that one’s going on the list too.

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Pom- elated

So the luncheon thing is over, and I ate too much. So basically everything turned out like I planned. The Chocolate Damnation went over well with the chocolate lovers. I’ve never been a big fan of lots of the brown stuff. I like it as an accent, the icing on the cake, dessert, but not the main course, and that was rich enough to be the main course. The pear cake went over pretty good too. It was like a carrot cake, but with pears. I personally think Carrot cake is one of the best types of fall/ winter cakes, and this one is more subtle. I like that. While making it I thought of a rendition I could do next time. It involves my favorite fall fruit, and I’ll ramble on about that below.

My all time favorite fall fruit is the venerable pomegranate. I’m pretty sure my cousin was the first person to introduce me to pomegranates when I was around 7 or so. My neighbor even has several pomegranate shrubs that grow in his backyard, but the weather here doesn’t lend itself to the fruit ripening properly.

I dearly love the sweet and tart arils from the inside of the fruit. It’s kind of like eating crab legs or crawfish. You have to work and be patient to get to the good stuff. If you are in too big a hurry, you end up with a mushed up mess. It’s a nice contrast to the fast paced world around us. You can’t just sit down and chomp through a pomegranate in a hurry. You have to make a decision to set aside 20 – 30 minutes to work on the fruit and savor the rewards. I find it calming. It’s a good combination of detail oriented finger activity with oral and olfactory rewards. I’d say it’s even better than crochet, which I also do. Yes I crochet. It’s one more thing that makes me better than you so nyahhh. I also change my own oil and regularly use power tools.

I was shocked and gladdened when a few years back Pom juice started showing up at grocery stores. It comes straight and mixed with several other kinds of juice. I will tell you right now, straight Pom is quite strong. It really does need to be cut with something. At first I was using it as an additive to my strawberry daiquiris. I would use Daily’s Strawberry mix, Pom juice, Blue Curaçao, Bacardi 151, Cruzan light rum ( 2 year), and ice. We called it a Purple Pommelator, because one will beat the crap out of you. In fact more than one person refuses to drink them anymore, because of the aftereffects.

Then a friend of mine mentioned that he mixes Pom with orange juice. Well now, it just so happens that one of my favorite drinks is a screwdriver: 35-40% vodka (Tanqueray, FRIS, Kettle One, etc.) to the rest orange juice. I like the pulpy stuff too, cause I’m weird. Well depending on the amount of Pom you like, you end up with two different drinks. With about 7 -10% Pom you get what I call a Rusty Screwdriver. If you add about 15- 20% Pom you get what I call a Bloody Screwdriver. Now if you want to go all out you use Blavod, which comes in a nice insulated cover that is perfect for 22 oz Ks. The Blavod will make a Bloody Screwdriver into the most sickeningly gray color you have ever seen, and that I call an Old Steamex Water. That’s just a good tasting drink right there, and you don’t have to worry about anyone else touching it.

Anyway, next time I make the pear cake, I might try adding some pomegranate arils. That might be good.

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You want a what for Christmas?

Well I’m waiting for my cake to cool, so it sounds like a good time to talk about some more food. A cake to cool! And what’s with that title and food? Well I’ll ramble on about the topic.

Well, like I said before, I like food. That means if I want food I have to buy it pre-made or make it myself. Therefore I learned to cook. I’m not going to say I’m a chef, because I’m not. A friend of mine is much closer to being a chef. I just enjoy cooking. My favorite things to fix are desserts, and why shouldn’t they be.

I’m waiting here now because work is having a Holiday (Thanksgiving) luncheon. Everybody brings something, and everybody eats. It’s actually pretty interesting. I work with tech people, and it makes for an interesting array of food.

I know what you are thinking, but computer people, especially guys, seem to spend a certain portion of their lives fixing their own meals. In fact now, the guys may spend all of their lives fixing meals, even after they get married. I’m impressed at the shift of cooking knowledge and skill taking place from women to men. I studied at the elbow of my mother, godmother, and godsister. I put it to use regularly.

Oop. Time to turn the cake out of the pan.

Woo Hoo. It came out I one piece.

Anyway, I’m making two things, probably because I like to show off a bit. I just turned a pear cake out of my bunt pan. It needs to cool and tomorrow morning I will put the glaze on it. In the fridge I have a Chocolate Damnation. It’s basically a 13 x9 sheet brownie sitting on a bed of a simple chocolate mousse type layer. Tomorrow I have to make the toping.

So what’s with the title? Well I used my Ultrapower Kitchenaid stand mixer to make both desserts. I asked for that 2 Christmases ago. I was questioned as to why I wanted it, but I will tell you. If you do any kind of baking, a stand mixer will make the job so much easier and enjoyable that it isn’t even funny.

I decided on the Kitchenaid stand mixer after I bought one of their blenders for $80. I got the black version. Why did I buy an $80 blender? Because I burnt up the motors on 2 $40 ones, 2 $45 ones, and a $50 one. I believe that is the same blender on The Iron Chef America program. The way I love mine I can understand why it’s there. That thing has survived more daiquiris than the other 5 combined.

I was actually gone to talk about another obsession, but it’s close to time for bed. I’ll try to finish that one up tomorrow.

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I can stop whenever I want. I just don’t wanna.

A friend of mine put up a post recently talking about one of my favorite holiday events. That’s right, the running of the Little Debbie Christmas Tree Cakes. The white ones, not the chocolate ones.

I have to agree with him on their crack like qualities. I have to have at least one a day for almost the entire Christmas season. I don’t really get into the Christmas mood, until I have the first one of the season. In fact I admit to buying 3 of the Sam’s Club 10 packs this weekend. The sad part is that those won’t last until Christmas. I even brought one for lunch today. I discovered that the smallest plastic container I had would hold a cake perfectly, without having to worry about it being smushed.

I don’t know if it is the extra surface area constituting more icing, the sprinkles and stripes, the short availability, or what. I think it may be the increased icing with the fact that the seasonal cakes never sit around as long. I think they are just fresher. My addiction started early. I’ve also grown up with Little Debbie all my life. Half of my family is southern Methodist of Irish decent, so we do like our food. I’ve eaten untold oatmeal crème pies, and various other selections. But the Christmas tree cakes put them all to shame.

The sad part is that they disappear right after Christmas. I will miss them, but the anticipation will make next year all the better. I could stop, but why?

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Theatre in the town

This weekend I went home to Union for a Sunday afternoon. Boogaloo Broadcasting was performing their Christmas program. For those of you that don’t know Boogaloo produces folk life plays based on stories contributed by the citizens of Union county. They began productions in 2002 and have been producing new shows for summer and Christmas performances. You can see some of the initial reviews here and here. The production was recognized by the state legislature as the First Folk Life Play of South Carolina.

Anyway, I had to go see it because I like it and both of my parents performed in it. I’ve seen most of the productions, and I believe that they have gotten better since locals took over development and production. This year was String of Lights. The story mainly revolved around interactions of people helping people, a series of robberies, and redemption of an individual. It was an hour and a quarter production, but the summer shows usually last 3 hours with a 20 minute intermission. It’s interesting to watch the past of the place in which you grew up. Especially when you realize some of the audience recognize the stories.

They have DVD and VHS copies of the past performances on sale. I’m going to ask around and see if I can donate copies of the performances to the University Library System.

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Tender, Flaky, and Multicolored

A friend of mine had some interesting test thingies up on her page. Since I always get a chuckle messing with these things I gave it a try. I don't know if I agee with the French food. I'll let my friends decide that one. I guess orange may fit, since it is supposed to be a secret inner hair color. Does that make me an Orange Glazed Pastry?

You Are French Food

Snobby yet ubiquitous. People act like they understand you more than they actually do.

What Kind of Food Are You?

Your Hair Should Be Orange

Expressive, deep, and one of a kind. You pull off "weird" well - hardly anyone notices.

What's Your Funky Inner Hair Color?

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This is a bloody big nutshell

Well I have indeed finished Steven Hawking’s The Universe in a Nutshell, and my list of books below reflects that. It’s not the first book of his I have read. The first was The Illustrated a Brief History of Time, which I highly recommend to anyone who likes this subject matter. I recommend the illustrated one, because the pictures help immensely with understanding. Read the rest of my rambling about the book.

Steven Hawking’s books are some of the best on theoretical physics I’ve ever read. TUiaN is actually written for the average person to be able to understand. I would say that anyone that graduated with a C or better in high school should be able to get 90% of what the book covers. TIaBHoT is a bit more in depth and requires someone who likes the subject a little more.

Unlike the previous book, the chapters in this one are set up so that they don’t have to be read in order. Therefore someone can read about the parts they want and skip some of the others. It’s also a very fast read. If you can handle the information load a moderate reader could finish it in a day.

If you like reading about this stuff I recommend The Universe in a Nutshell as a good place to start. If you like it, then you may also like The Illustrated A Brief History of Time. But don’t tike my word for it.

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Listen up

Man when it rains it pours. After weeks of offline I start spewing like a busted sewer line during halftime at the Superbowl.

One of the pleasures while visiting Atlanta is listening to really good radio stations, because my current home has few. I have a country station I usually listen to at home, because I like the morning show and they don’t play all new country. One radio station in particular I like, called 99X. Please visit their site. They are billed as alternative, but really you hear all kinds of stuff, especially on the weekend. On the weekends they have been plugging in their music director’s iPod and hitting shuffle. That means you get to hear all kinds of really great songs, from all genres, on one radio station. Now that I love. As it so happens at the top right of their front page they have a link to a stream of the station. I’ve been listening to it for about a week now and really like it. I thought I would mention it so others could enjoy as well.

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Out of town recently

One of the things that have been keeping me busy, and a little behind in most things, is that a friend of mine had begun the great process of paying a bank for a house. I continue to ramble on for some time.

Now first of all, the house is in Atlanta, so it costs way more that I would pay for it. Secondly the house needs quite a bit of work. However, its value should increase by approximately twice the cost of fixing it up. That makes it a good investment for him and a stepping stone to a larger house.

I’ve traveled down there a total of 3 times, each time spending a day or two. The first trip I helped remove a wall and clean some of the nastiest blinds I have ever seen. Apparently the previous occupant lived there for several decades, and chain smoked through all of them. The humidity in the bathroom is making the walls and ceiling leach out nicotine and tar. Nice.

The second time I went down on a Thursday and did some work while my friend was at work. I shaved some of the doors and jams so that the doors would shut properly. I also fixed a window sill that sloped into the house and then replaced the resulting rot that the incoming water had caused. Then I fixed two of the electrical outlets in the room. The boxes and the outlets would pull out of the wall several inches. I replaced them with renovation boxes at a standard 14 inch height above the floor.

The third time, this past weekend, I went down to meet some other friends who were coming to visit. There were two Halloween parties, one Friday and one Saturday, that we ended up going to. I dressed as an Army Corp of Engineers mine sweeper. I had the camo BDUs, face shield, camo knee and elbow pads, ground probe and digging tools, and I mocked up a metal detector. All in all the parties were a good time.

I had intended to work on my friend’s house Saturday morning and afternoon, but he had to go help someone move. He called us a few minutes later to indicate that the person moving had not received all the help she had expected. So another friend and I drove over to assist. We moved most of her stuff down 2 or 3 flights of narrow steep stairs. She built a lot of her furniture herself, so most of it was heavy and had never actually left the apartment. Several pieces had to be disassembled in order to get them out the door. She also had boxes filled with paper, ceramic tiles, and MDF blocks. I found out later we were under a time limit. We were able to unload the 20 foot Uhaul in 20 minutes at her new house. It was rather amazing.

On Sunday I did manage to fix two more outlets in another room, with the same problems as above. I wanted to add another outlet, but my friend was called to work. Frankly, I don’t know how he expects to have any time to get anything done at his house. I have this thing about making permanent changes to someone’s house without expressly talking about it. It would have probably been ok, but I set up the wiring so that it would be simple to do later.

We had wanted to set up for his new washer and dryer, but we didn’t get to it. This would have involved beefing up the structure of the floor, no small task for that location, and modifying the plumbing, much easier. I didn’t quite feel confident making structural modifications to floor without getting plan approval first. I think risking someone’s floor falling in under the load of several hundred pounds of water, warrants discussion of the support structure.

Anyway, maybe I can get down there some other time and actually do something useful.

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I'm finally out

I was finally released from being illegally held for my political views. Well that's not true, but it would make a better tale that the truth. Basically I've been busy, lazy, and apathetic. I haven't been to any movies recently. I haven't finished any books, and not much interesting has been happening. So I'm gonna try to kick myself in the butt (That's a pretty picture.) and get something going.

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