The Last Month or So…

I was going to post more often, really I was. I was even on vacation so I can’t say I didn’t have time. Just couldn’t think of anything much to talk about.

As for my vacation. I didn’t go anywhere, just stayed home and puttered around. Started getting the house, yard and garage ready for winter, that kind of thing. I did almost no cooking during my vacation. Part of it was my arthritis was really bad the first few days so I didn’t really do much of anything at all. Just moaned and complained to Rosie. She got rather short with me about the whole thing after a while. 

I did watch three movies on DVD from Netflix in the last couple of weeks: Wanted, Killers and Clash of the Titans (the new one).

Wanted – Don’t you just love movies that have no connection to reality. To me Wanted has less connection to reality than, oh say, No Such Thing (which I also watched while on vacation). Wanted is visually entertaining, but there is no story, not really, the plot is just a thin excuse for the special effects. **

Killers – Don’t you just love movies with Katherine Heigl in them? She’s both charming and witty. But, seriously – or not, this movie is just a fun romantic comedy romp with some action thrown in because what’s a love story without explosions and full auto weapons fire? It doesn’t pretend to be anything more than what it is; which is just good, reasonably clean, fun. ***1/2 (Tom Selleck’s mustache **** :-)

Clash of the Titans – I seem to remember that when the first Clash of the Titans (1981) came out people made fun of it because it was not very accurate to the Perseus myths. Regarding the new version, I can only say that while the names remain the same the rest has been changed to protect the viewers(?) or someone from something or the other. Aside from the names and a few events the movie bears even less resemblance to the myth than the original. Which it seems is now a classic. When did that happen? It also negates the intent of the myth. Some of the visual effects are interesting, but that really doesn’t make a movie. *1/2 (1981 version **1/2)

No Such Thing (2001) – I watched this one again because I enjoy it. ****

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I did put out my WingScapes BirdCam while I was on vacation. I didn’t capture anything unusual, just the normal suspects: House Sparrows, Black-capped Chickadees, White-breasted Nuthatches, Downy Woodpeckers and a Northern Cardinal. Oh, and a few squirrels, both grey and black, Here are a couple of videos for you to enjoy. Yes, Virginia, there really are black squirrels in the area I understand that they were imported (why?) to the Island from the Black Forest in Germany that or they are simply a melanistic variety of the grey squirrel,

 

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While I didn’t do much cooking while on vacation only a very simple Chicken Tikka Masala. I did do some today. I made my Green Chili Cheese & Chicken Casserole and my Black Bean Brownies. Here are links to PDF files of the recipes (I hope they work):

   

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Well, I need to get up for work in six hours give or take. So Good Night all.

PS I did get a Logitech Revue while on vacation. If you’re unfamiliar with it, it is a Google TV box. I’ll try to post a review piece on it in a few days.

A Few of My Favorite Things > Book & Movie > Picnic at Hanging Rock

Occasionally I'll write something about one of my favorite things. This will usually be a book or movie. They'll not be presented in any special order and they're not my all-time-favorites, but they will be movies and books that I do like and that most of the people I see daily have probably never heard of. You see they will not have been written or filmed recently (say the last 10 or so years). The first of these is both a book and a movie:

Picnic at Hanging Rock [Trailer - Wikipedia - Amazon Video on Demand] is a 1975 film from Australia. It is directed by Peter Weir (The Way Back (2010), The Truman Show (1998), Dead Poet Society (1989), The Year of Living Dangerously (1982) to name but a few of the other movies he's directed), and based on the 1967 book by Joan Lindsay (which naturally I have, and yes I've read it). The screenplay was written by Cliff Green.

It is the story of the disappearance of three students and a teacher from Appleyard College in Victoria. The girls disappear on Valentines Day, February 14th 1990. They are part of a group of students, two teachers and the wagon driver Mr Hussey who go on an educational picnic to Hanging Rock, a geological marvel about 11 km from the school.

The haunting music and vague hints dropped in the opening set the scene for the mystery to follow. Although thought by many to be based on true events it is not. Since one of the main methods the film uses to entice the viewer is to ask questions, I'm not going to provide answers and ultimately the film doesn't either. The final chapter of the book "The Secret of Hanging Rock" was published twenty years after the novel, two years after Joan Lindsay's death.

Some links of possible interest:

• Hanging Rock's website Hanging Rock is a real place although innocent of the events described in the book and movie.
• Joan Lindsay's house at Langwarrin on the Mornington Peninsula
• Picnic at Hanging Rock: a full length play by Laura Annawyn Shamas
• Picnic at Hanging Rock on Google Video
• The Australian Ghost Hunter's Society article What Really Happened at Hanging Rock?
• The Secret of Hanging Rock, article at Wikipedia about the originally unpublished final chapter of Joan Lindsay's novel.
• The Secret of Hanging Rock, summary of the originally unpublished final chapter on Brett McKenzie's site.
• The BookOrphan site also has an interesting article on Joan Lindsay: The Mystique of Hanging Rock
• Darkchilde's Sanctuary: a fan site with a lot of information about both the film and novel

Picnic at Hanging Rock the Novel and Film on DVD:

• Picnic at Hanging Rock by Joan Lindsay, at Amazon, at Barnes and Noble, at Borders, search on ABEBooks.
• Picnic at Hanging Rock, DVD at Amazon, at Barnes and Noble, at DVDEmpire.
• The Secret of Hanging Rock, search on ABEBooks.
• You can download The Theme from Picnic at Hanging Rock MP3 from Amazon.
• The movie is also available from NetFlix as both DVD and Instantly.
• The book The Murders at Hanging Rock is a 200 page analysis of the events in the novel offering various possible solutions. Search on ABEBooks.

Oh, by the way, February 14th 1900 fell on a Wednesday not a Saturday.

On Recent Reads, TV Shows and Movies

Reads:

I finally finished Billy Boyle (Billy Boyle World War II Mystery Series #1) by James R Benn. It took me longer than usual to finish this book. I did not find it riveting, in fact I had to make myself go back to reading it just to finish it. My main problem with it is that I just couldn’t develop any concern for the characters.  During the same time I started and finished: 1632 by Eric Flint, The Lightening Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series #1) by Rick Riordan, and I’m ashamed to say Mysteria by MaryJanice Davidson, Susan Grant, Gena Showalter and P.C. Cast a paranormal romance story collection. 
Billy Boyle **
1632 *****
The Lightening Thief ***
Mysteria **

TV Shows:

Of the new fall TV season I haven’t really got caught up in any of the new shows. About the only one I’ve been trying to follow is The Glades on A&E TV. I’m not sure why since about the only character I like is the medical examiner Carlos Sanchez. Jim Longworth is arrogant and full of himself, but he is observant. A trait I see too little of in real life. His love interest in the series is Callie Cargill who I think is rather whiney.  Other shows I’ve been watching a little include Haven (new), Warehouse 13 (continuing), Covert Affairs (New).  I’ve also watched a couple of episodes of Beast Legends ON DEMAND. It is a silly concept. The only reason I might watch it again is Kathryn Denning. What can I say? I like anthropologists and archaeologists and she’s both. 
One of these days I’ll use ON DEMAND or NBC Online to watch/catch-up on The Event. I started watching it one night, but was just too tired to enjoy it and haven’t gotten back to it yet.
Normally when I watch TV I watch Historical, Anthropological, Archaeological or Nature documentaries.

Movies:

On DVDs from NetFlix I’ve recently watched Avatar, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightening Thief, The Happening, The Lovely Bones, 9, and Alice in Wonderland. On Watch Instantly from NetFlix I’ve recently watched: Legend of the Lost, DeepStar Six, Beauty and the Beast, The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I Haven’t been to the theater for a while so no new theatrical releases. I did purchase Iron Man 2 a couple of days ago though.
9 (2009) **** – Cute little dolls verses big bad machines.
Avatar (2009) ***** -- I saw Avatar in IMAX and it really hit my fear of heights, I think I liked it better on my wide screen TV.
Alice in Wonderland (2010) ** – Big disappointment.
Beauty and the Beast (1946) ***** -- Beauty and the Beast was just as beautiful as the first time I saw it.
DeepStar Six (1989) *** – Watching this movie reminded me of another movie “Plymouth” a pilot for a series that was never picked up. I checked IMDb to see if it was available on DVD, it’s not. I did find it on YouTube (Plymouth Part 1)!!!
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2009) **** -- I was lucky because The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo appeared on NetFlix’s Watch Instantly list just after I finished the book. I can’t say either were really great, but they were both enjoyable.
The Happening (2008) *** – One of these days I’m going to make a chronological list of M. Night Shyamalan’s movies that are on NetFlix and watch them in order. It’s not that I’m especially fond of his work, It’s that I can’t decide.
Iron Man 2 (2010) **** – Okay sequel.
Legend of the Lost (1957) **** -- John Wayne and Sophia Loren (Angelina eat your heart out you’re not even close.) Not a big picture but oh so classic actors.
The Lovely Bones (2009)  **** – Sad, funny (in parts), tragic, tender and affecting.
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightening Thief (2010) *** – Better than the book, something I rarely say.
The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea (1976) *** – Re-watched to see if I remembered it correctly, I did.

That's a Spicy Meatball!

Made Spaghetti and Meatballs last night. Hy-Vee had 90% lean ground beef for $2.99 a pound so I purchased 2 pounds. I was just going to brown it all and mix half of it with 8 ounces or so of spaghetti and mix in a jar of spaghetti sauce. I ended up making meatballs, actual ball shaped meatballs. You ask what other shape meatballs would be? Usually when I make 'meatballs' I actually just make a couple of big patties and then cut them into bite-size pieces. It's quick, easy and entails less handling of raw meat. Last night though I went all out and used all 2 pounds of ground beef and made a couple dozen meatballs.

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Meatballs ala ec

2 pounds 90% lean ground beef
1 pouch (16g) Good Seasons Zesty Italian Salad Dressing & Recipe Mix
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
2 eggs

Dump all the ingredients into a good-sized mixing bowl and mix thoroughly. Shape into balls (about 2 tablespoons of meat each). I cooked mine on the stove-top in a frying pan, but you could bake them.
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Nothing special about the spaghetti or the store bought sauce. I did add about a teaspoon of Tabasco Sauce and a half cup of shredded cheese to the final product.

They are very tasty, but I think I'll go back to the make into patties and cut into chunks method. It's a lot easier.

As for today? It's my 'day off,' so I'm doing yard work, mowing, raking and all that. Also taking stuff that shouldn't be allowed to freeze from the garage to the basement, and stuff from the basement to the garage that'll be unaffected by freezing. I'll also probably clear off the deck.

Hoppin' John Salad

Made something completely different from my normal cooking: a variation on a Hoppin' John Salad. The original recipe can be found on the USA Rice Federation recipe pages: Hot Hoppin' John Salad. This variation is slanted toward my preferences; however, since I'm not a big fan of beans, peas or other legumes, and cabbage is not one of my favorite vegetables (I can eat it raw, but find the taste to strong when cooked) I'm giving myself points for even trying this recipe. I'm trying to expand my horizons so I decided to give it a whirl.

ec's Hot Hoppin' John Salad 
May be used as a main dish (6 servings) or a side dish (8 servings)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups   rice, cooked
3 oz   thick sliced bacon, minced
6 oz   ham minced
1/2 cup   onion, red, finely chopped
1 tablespoon   minced garlic
1/2 cup   carrots, shredded
1/2 cup   celery, sliced
1 teaspoon   hot pepper sauce
1 can   black-eyed peas, 15 oz
1/2 teaspoon   black pepper
1/4 teaspoon   salt
4 cups   cabbages, finely shredded

Instructions:
Cook rice per package directions and set aside.

Cut bacon into 2-inch pieces and put in bowl of food processor, pulse 4 or 5 times. add a couple ounces of the ham to the bowl and pulse 3 or 4 times, repeat with remaining ham. Bacon/ham mixture should be well blended. Put in 10-inch sauce pan on low heat, cover, stirring occasionally until mixture starts to brown.

Add onion, garlic and carrots to ham mixture. Continue to stir until onion and carrots start to soften.

Stir in celery, hot sauce, black-eyed peas (drain can first), rice, salt and pepper. Heat through, stirring frequently.

Serve on bed of cabbage.

Servings: 8 side salads or 6 main dish servings

Nutrition Facts 
Nutrition (per serving): 267.6 calories; 30% calories from fat; 9.0g total fat; 86.5mg cholesterol; 1432.9mg sodium; 602.9mg potassium; 22.5g carbohydrates; 3.0g fiber; 4.4g sugar; 23.4g protein.

Recipe Type: Main Dish, Salad, Side Dish

Recipe Source: USA Rice Federation

I liked it. It was very flavorful and not overpowered by any of the ingredients. The sodium and fat content is high, that'd be from the bacon and ham. Fiber is good and the sugar isn't too bad. On the whole I'd give this a 4-star rating (out of 5).

Pot Roast

I made a pot roast last night (Thursday). I bought the stuff for it Wednesday on my way home from work planning on throwing it into the slow cooker before going to bed. I wasn't feeling very good Wednesday and by the time I got home it was after 9 and since I had to leave for work in 12 hours I decided to leave it until after work Thursday. Felt worse Thursday morning, but somehow got myself into work. Worked for three hours and had to leave. Tried to read when I got home but headache was too bad and so I went to sleep simply because being unconscious seemed the simplest solution. When I woke up I decided I'd better get the pot roast going or put the roast in the freezer. The thought also occurred to me that a pot roast in a slow cooker was about the easiest thing I could actually cook. Except for bacon and eggs, which to be honest didn't appeal to my stomach.

I put 8 oz carrots, 8 oz celery, 1 lb cubed Yukon potatoes, 6 oz shallots, 3 lbs beef roast (browned), 1 (10 3/4  oz) can cream of mushroom with roasted garlic condensed soup and 1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce into my slow cooker. Why shallots instead of onions? I'd never used them before and was curious of how they'd work.

I had some raw veggies (carrots and celery I had on hand for some reason) and saltines for dinner. I then read for awhile and wondered what time it was. I expected it to be something like 1am, but it was only coming onto 9pm. I was too tired and groggy to do much and too rested to go back to sleep. What to do What to do...

Hmm, isn't this what the internet was invented for? I decided to surf for a while. I also worked on my Lunch reference page for "The critter @ home". Look for the Lunch Time link under pages. After a couple of hours I was ready for bed.

This morning I opened the slow-cooker and divided the pot roast and veggies into a couple of storage containers and put it in the fridge. I did try a small bowl and it tasted great! The roast itself is falling apart and the veggies were flavorful. I'll have more for lunch; here at home since I have today off.

A day off, mostly wasted since I'm still sick. Why can I made myself work (usually) when I'm sick, but on my day off I'm lucky if I can force myself from the bed to the recliner? There are a dozen things I should do today and I know I'll be luck to get just a couple of them done.

Black Bean Brownies Version 2

Made the Black Bean Brownies again yesterday. Changed the recipe a little in an attempt to make them less crumbly. The changes were mostly successful and the ones that weren't didn't hurt anything. The brownies were less crumbly and were moist and more melt in your mouth than chewy. They were not especially more chocolaty or sweeter. The peanut butter also was not especially evident, I could smell it more than taste it. All in all, I'd raise it about 1/2 point.

ec's Flourless (Black Bean) Brownies Version 2
Tags: Desserts, Snacks, Beans, Bake, Low Sugar
No flour and no sugar but still tasty.

Ingredients
15 ounce can Black beans
3 large Eggs
1/2 cup Butter melted
1 tablespoon Vanilla extract
2 tablespoon Torani Sugar Free Classic Caramel Syrup optional
1/2 cup Simply Jif peanut butter or your favorite peanut butter
1 cup Splenda
1/2 cup Cocoa
1/2 teaspoon Baking powder
1/8 teaspoon Salt
Cooking spray

Instructions
Preheat oven to 325°F.
Spray a 9" baking pan or one of them new-fangled brownie pans.
Put dry ingredients into a bowl and stir a little to mix.
Place the black beans, eggs, melted butter, vanilla extract, caramel syrup and peanut butter into the bowl of the food processor. Pulse a few times to start blending. Add about a quarter of the cocoa powder, Splenda, salt, and baking powder to the bowl, pulsing a couple of times before adding more, blend until smooth.

Bake the brownies for 30 to 40 minutes, or until they are set in the center. Allow to cool before cutting into squares.

Yield: 16 Servings

Version 2 change history: added 1/2 cup peanut butter (I used Simply Jif - 1/2 the sodium and 2/3rds the sugar), increased the Splenda from 3/4 cup to 1 cup, increased the cocoa from 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup, removed the walnuts (I'm just not that fond of walnuts baked into things. I love them straight from the package) and added 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder. Also added 2 tablespoons Torani Sugar Free Classic Caramel Syrup at the last minute, just because I've been looking for some way to use it up.

BigOven -- Easy to use recipe organizer for Windows

On the Techie side of life!

Most of my recent entries, of which there are more than usual, have been about food. I think it's time for a post about something technological. Samsung has just recently announced it's Samsung Galaxy Tab. This is a 7-inch tablet with the android operating system. The first real competitor to the iPad. In the coming year there will undoubtedly be a flood of tablets hitting the market. Many of these will use the Android operating system although there will be other operating systems as well. Samsung is looking to grab a chunk of the market as it will be releasing the Galaxy Tab through all of the top wireless providers in the USA as well as providers in Asia, Europe and elsewhere. The sad thing is many people will be getting tablets who have no idea what it is they are really getting.

What amazes me is the shear number of people who are getting Android phones who don't 'get' them. I mean they have an android phone but don't understand why (other than it's the newest, shiniest bobble in the store). I hear them bragging about "Apps? I don't need any apps. I just use it to make calls and sometimes message my kids/grandkids/chums/whoever" In that case why get a smartphone? I remember a few years ago, I had a lady in her late 40s or early 50s (in other words my age). She listed all of the things she didn't want in a phone: the web, email, messaging. This is another thing I don't understand, instead of listing what they want most people list what they don't want, very negative. Anyway, after listing everything she didn't want she said, "Can you show me the Blackberry's?" When I pointed out that they were everything she'd just said she didn't want she replied, "but aren't they the best phone there is?" The only thing I could say was no, they may be the best wireless device for some people if they want the web, email and messaging, but they aren't the best phone if you just mean making calls. 


I hear this type of comment a lot and it always makes me think of the used car salesman's proverbial little old lady who only used her Bugatti Veyron to drive half a mile to church on Sundays.

I have the original Motorola Droid, finally with Froyo and Flash.  I could easily live without it. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I have it and I use it and certain apps on it daily, but I'm not dependent on it. Okay, I might get the shakes if I have to go without my RSS feeds for a while, but I'd adjust. I might miss some shows without my TV Show Listings, but as my dad used to say they'll be on as reruns next summer. If I traveled more there are many more features I'd use and be glad to have. But even people who seem to understand what they're getting better still show little understanding of what to expect from the new smartphones. They set them to check for email, Twitter and Facebook updates every few minutes and wonder why their battery doesn't last several days like their old flip phone. They play games for hours and then explain that they hardly ever use the phone. They never close running apps and download the silliest most useless apps in the Market and ones which for some reason require constant access to their location, messaging, calls and other personal data when all they are is a wallpaper changer or some such trivial app.

This seems to be a rant which I really didn't intend so I think I'd better end it now and come back when I'm in a better mood or something. But since I've gone this far my biggest complaint about Android phone users is that they can't be bothered to understand that they have  to know their Google account info. The carriers cannot be responsible for their personal info. 

Well, maybe I'd better get something to eat, it's been about 7 hours, and then some sleep and maybe I'll be in a better frame of mind.

Homemade Brownies

Last week I made Pillsbury's Sugar-Free Chocolate Fudge Brownies. It made me want more! This week I decided to try to make some brownies from scratch. While browsing the web for sugar-free brownie recipes I stumbled across a couple of different recipes for Black Bean Brownies. The idea intrigued me so I made up my own recipe using Splenda instead of sugar. I think the recipe still needs some work, but it was good. It just needs to be a little more cohesive. I expect that if I'd made it with sugar, or even Splenda Sugar Blend, it would have had more cohesion. Next time I make it I think I'll add another 1/4 cup of Splenda and another egg (to give it more of that cohesion). I hope. Recipe link for ec's Flourless (Black Bean) Brownies.

From Public

ec's Flourless (Black Bean) Brownies

Lunching with Mr Bento episode 02

This is my second entry about Mr Bento and the lunches I put through him. My first one was the entry: Today's Lunch with Mr Bento posted September 9th.

First, who or what is Mr Bento? Made by Zojirushi, the Mr. Bento Stainless Lunch Jar (SL-JAE14) consists of a stainless steel, vacuum insulated, outer container with 4 microwaveable inner bowls, included is a forked spoon with snap-on cover and a zippered carrying bag. The size of the various inner containers are: Main Bowl 15.2 oz., Large Side Bowl 10.1 oz., Small Side Bowl 6.8 oz., Soup Bowl 9.5 oz. The company offers several lunch jars with this one being the largest. You can see how some people use it in the the Flickr group: Mr. Bento. I've added a Flickr Slideshow at the bottom of this page to make it easier for you.

My second Mr Bento lunch this month (Monday, September 13th) consisted of Blackened Chicken Strips on Pasta with Cajun Sauce from the BigOven recipe site. Apple sauce, the end of last week's Brownies, and some Blue Bunny No Sugar Added Reduced Fat Ice Cream Vanilla. I put the ice cream in Mr Bento's soup bowl and yes it does stay frozen. Well, it takes a little preparation and forethought but it can be done.

The Blackened Chicken on Pasta was good. Not 5-star but a solid 3.5. I may at some future time play with the recipe a little to make it more suited to my personal preferences. As mentioned above I found it on the BigOven recipe site. I mention this because recently, most of the recipes I've found really interesting I've found on TasteSpotting. This is sort of a best of the best food blogs site. Members of TasteSpotting submit images/links from around the web and the submissions are reviewed and the best served up complete with the most delicious images.  Everything there looks great, even the things I know I wouldn't like. I've added a Feed roll at the bottom of the column to the right for those of you who'd like to see the most recent additions to TasteSpotting's site.

Today's Lunch with Mr Bento

This morning I broke out my Mr Bento and, for lunch, filled it with left-over Curried Ground Turkey and Potatoes, apple sauce and a brownie from Pillsbury's Sugar-Free Brownie mix. As food photography goes this isn't a great picture, but it is what it is.

If you're wondering how I got a round brownie I used two 4" springform pans and then put the rest of the batter in a loaf pan. I purchased the 4" pans mostly to use when cooking for my Mr Bento. In addition to the usual baked goods I've used them for meatloaf which fits nicely into the two larger containers in the Mr Bento.

    

Tried a New Recipe Last Night

As I've mentioned I'm addicted to RSS feeds. Right now I'm subscribed to around 80 feeds about food and cooking. One of these feeds is Simply Recipes, their recipe Curried Ground Turkey with Potatoes caught my eye a couple of days ago. I made it last night, ate a small bowl and I have to say it is good. I used to know a lady who made great curries. She didn't use any recipe, usually she just looked at what she had on hand and made it up as she went. I can't do that, at least not with curry.

I'm writing this during my lunch, which is left over curry! I let a co-worker try it and she did NOT like it, but she'd never had curry before.

Hmm, have to call around and see if anyone wants to go the Great Indian Restaurant. I haven't been there for a while and could use a fix of their Chicken Tikka Masala.

Opps!

For some reason my last couple of posts were forwarded onto Facebook!
This is a test post to see if it shows up there too.

Blog fog smog log snog gog and magog there’s rhyme but no reason for this entry…

I know there is a word for this concept; I just couldn't find it quickly. The concept is that gods are created and maintained by human belief in them. The more humans who believe in a particular god the more powerful that god is and as human belief wanes so does that god’s powers. This idea popped into my head the other day in relation to celebrities.

What if an actor became ‘locked’ into the age of the character they were playing in a television show? Carrying the idea even further, what if they became more and more like the character? Since many viewers have difficulty separating the actor from the role the idea of millions of viewers projecting the image of the character back onto the actor is not unreasonable. This could even happen years after the program ended. With reruns and entire TV series on DVD it’s possible that the ‘critical mass’ of belief may not be reached until years later, restoring the actor to the age of their maximum popularity.

If Twilight Zone were still around I think this would make a great episode. If you’re a writer please feel free to use this idea at no charge, but if you would acknowledge my contribution it’d tickle me pink.

Reflecting on and off...

I've been thinking about a lot of things recently. I need a new job. The current one is fine except I'm on my feet all day and it's getting just a little too painful lately. It's also getting too repetitive. I'm finding that I'm letting myself slide on what I already know and not as enthusiastic as I once was to learn the new stuff.

It's been almost two years since I bought my house and I'm still not done doing all the things I want to to it, of course I probably never will be, that's one of the things with owning a house. I do need to get the walks done before winter.

I want to blog, mostly about books and movies and food, but also about my house and how and what I do to make it more HOME than house. Oh, a couple of ideas for organizing your home:

• An over the door pocket organizer (usually used for shoes) is great on the inside of a pantry door or maybe even a kitchen door. It is great for holding can openers and other tools or pouches of various mixes (Kool Aid, salad dressing, et cetera), bags of nuts, chocolate chips and other food items in bags or small boxes. Get one with clear pockets so you can see the contents.

• It the same vein a hanging jewelry organizer is good for keeping small computer/electronic or even personal items sorted and organized. Everything from headphones, flash drives, accessories for cameras and cell phones to tools, spare parts & cords, rolls of film, lens filters, et cetera.

Since I got my Motorola Droid I've become addicted to RSS feeds, at the moment I'm subscribed to over 200. Mostly about Android powered devices, Books & Reading, Food & Cooking, Entertainment (TV & Movies) Archaeology and Space. Oh and also Cryptozoology & UFOlogy (sorry, guilty pleasure).

Well, I need to get some sleep so I'll stop for now.

    

The End of August and I'm Currently Reading...

On my Barnes and Noble Nook I'm reading Billy Boyle by James R Benn, the first book in the Billy Boyle World War II Mystery Series. On my Sony Reader I'm rereading 1632 by Eric Flint I downloaded it from the wonderful Baen.com web site. On my Motorola Droid's Nook Application I'm reading The Monster of Florence by Douglas Preston and Mario Spezi.

Operation Paperback

 Joined Operation Paperback as a volunteer last week. Shipped my first box of books overseas today. Twenty-three books, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Science Fiction and Westerns shipped to our troops serving overseas. I'll get another address next month and send another shipment out in September.

Current and just finished reads.

Finished The Lost City of Z by David Grann and Garden Spells by Sarah Addison Allen; before starting The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson.

The Lost City of Z tells of the quest by David Grann to discover what happened to the famous explorer Percy Fawcett who disappeared in 1925. Grann's quest is woven together with the tale of Fawcett's own quest for the Lost City of Z. The contrast between these two stories is the contrast between Fawcett's time and ours.

Garden Spells is a much simpler read and it is impossible (at least for me) not to be reminded of the movie Practical Magic.

The Girl with the Dragon Tatto Just finished 08/10/2010

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

Just finished The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. I did enjoy this book, that said I don't know why it's the most sold e-book on Amazon and I think Barnes and Noble too. The book contains a wealth of information about the characters, but it is presented to us, we don't really learn about characters through the characters themselves. The plot itself was generally predicable but it did offer unexpected twists every now and then. Then after the twist the plot in the new direction becomes predicable. Lisbeth Salander, the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, is by far the most interesting person in the book, troubled herself and troubling to others she is the one who changes the most in the course of the book. Mikael Blomkvist the other main character in the story is less interesting. He doesn't seem to know why he does what he does.

After finishing the book I watched the movie: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo on Netflix's Instant Watch service. While several incidents are left out of the movie and more simplified I thought it to be a good take on the book.  More noirish than the book the movie covered the same ground and I think set the right mood. The end of the movie did seem rather rapid, as if they realized that they only had so many minutes left and had to get certain scenes in to wrap it up. The actor playing Mikael Blomkvist comes across as lost and confused as the character in the book.

What another blog for me not to write?

Well, I'm going to try a third blog. This one is for my reading, mostly just short comments and not full reviews, but who knows how it will turn out...

I have two ebook readers, the Sony Reader (PRS-505) and the Barnes and Noble Nook. I also have a Motorola Droid with the Nook, Kindle, Kobo, Borders, Aldiko, and Wattpad applications on it. I bought the Sony Reader in October 2007 and the Barnes & Noble Nook in April 2010 so about 2.5 years apart. Most of the books on the Sony are either free ebooks or from Baen books (purchased and free), I have purchased a few via the Borders/Sony online store. I have copied all of the free ebooks to the memory card in my Nook, but I am mostly using it to read new books I’ve purchased from B&N. I also still have a number of real books in my library that I haven't gotten around to reading yet. Most of the time I am in the process of reading three or four books.

Just a Word for July

Don't really have time for much, but I noticed I hadn't posted anything yet during July so....

Yard work going slowly, but getting done. I have been working in the garage and I'll add some of those pictures to the slide show to the right. Been shopping for a new 'fridge, looking mostly at ones with the freezer on the bottom.

Rosie's been her normal abnormal self this month. Soft and friendly most of the time, but every once in a while all fangs and laid back ears.

Last night I finished reading The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon. It was a very enjoyable read. I have to admit that I'd never heard of Percy Fawcett before starting this book. In reading this book I learned that he was the basis for several characters in books and movies that I am familiar with. I won't spoil the book by going into detail I will strongly recommend it if you like adventure stories like Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World. The Indiana Jones movie series, et cetera

eBook Readers on the Droid

Well, the Nook App. for the Droid is out today! I now have Adobe Reader, Aldiko (premium version), Borders, Kindle, Kobo, Nook and Wattpad on my Droid. I've been using Aldiko the most but, since I have a Nook I'll probably be switching to it as the most used eReader app.

More about Rosie

In my last post I mention how aggressive Rosie was the day after the thunderstorms. I now think this was because there was water in the basement.

This last Sunday I rearranged the bedroom. Rosie was underfoot the entire time snooping into everything I was doing and voicing her concerns the whole time. Meow this and Meow that, along with the occasional MMRRFFF and MURRURR and RRURKIK.

Last night a couple of police cars stopped in the intersection nearest my house, with their lights flashing. Rosie was sitting on her look-out table in the front window (one of those fold-up wooden TV trays). When the lights started flashing she took off and hid under the bed. Now, I'm concerned she's been doing something illegal while I'm at work. Possibly running a Cat-House. When I asked her about this she just looked at me all wide-eyed and innocent.

I mowed this morning. Not long, just on either side of the garage to the alley. It was WAY too long and I had to do just a little at a time. I have Thursday off this week so hopefully I'll get more done then.

eBook Price Wars

Wouldn't you know it. I buy a new eBook reader and then the price drops. But, If you're in the market for an eReader it seems this summer might be a good time.

Mowing, Storms and Kitty Cats

I mowed Thursday morning. My wrists still hurt. It stormed that night. It stormed again Friday night.

Rosie, my cat, does not like either storms or the storm sirens that the city kept sounding off most of the evening Friday. She was all over me for protection from the nasty sirens when I got home from work Friday. The next day she was cranky and aggressive. I guess just to prove she was her own cat and didn't need me, or something. I'm sure my left arm and right foot will grow back eventually.

Worked in the garage Tuesday night from about 9:30 to 11. It is now neater than it has been for 10 months, it's only 11 months old. Planning on working out there more tonight and tomorrow and doing laundry and the kitchen floor tomorrow.

On the Grill...

I've got this big, huge, CharGriller grill. It's way to big for my needs, but I have this bad habit of getting the biggest and best that I can afford when I buy something. The reason I mention the grill is: I cleaned it last night. It's been in storage for the last couple of years I brought it home a couple of weeks ago (dumping it out of the pickup on the way) and set it up Friday. I cleaned it Friday, but last night I scrubbed it and scrubbed it, soap, water and a wire brush; the whole 9-yards and no I don't know where that phrase comes from.

It works good, now. I grilled more hamburgers at around 9 pm. Yep, in the dark.

The Nook by Barnes and Noble

You will see that the Barnes and Noble Nook has been added to "Links to My Tech Stuff" list on the sidebar. Yes, I did get one. Some things on it I like better than my Sony eReader (PRS-505) and some things I like less. The main reason I got one was, of course, for the ease of purchasing new books. Many of my books are from Project Gutenburg, FeedBooks, Baen books, et cetera, but occasionally I do read newer stuff. And while Sony/Borders does have a much better selection than formerly, I decided I wanted the ease of over the air downloads. I chose the Nook over the Kindle as I didn't want a physical keyboard.

New Blog...

Instead of posting my comments on yard work and home ownership on my tech blog, I created this blog and moved such posts to it.

Did not do much work in the kitchen or living room last night. Spent about 2 hours doing yard work after working for 9 hours. I ache all over.

Power rakes? Need to buy or invent.....

Ongoing Homeowner Chinwag

As for my priority list from Monday I have mowed, cleaned the birdbath and whacked the weeds. Inside I've done laundry and some cleaning in the living room and kitchen. Since I open today and tomorrow (Friday & Saturday) I will have the evening free for more work in the kitchen and living room.

I also got the grill out and cleaned it. I then grilled up some hamburgers and brats. Just basic stuff, but it's been years since I last fired-up the grill so I'm happy I finally got it going again.

Back to the Yard

Bought a couple more bags of mulch last night (Sunday, May 23rd) after work. I parked on the street in front of my house and dumped the new bags on top of the existing mulch. After moving the car to the garage I watered the front yard. This morning I got up early and watered the backyard then went to work. My next 2 days off are Tuesday and Wednesday. According to Weather Bug on my Moto Droid there is a 50% chance of rain both days.

Depending on the weather I will try to get some stuff done outside, but since I'm getting behind in my housework I'll probably work on that most.
Top priorities for the outside Tuesday & Wednesday
1. Mow
2. Clean birdbath (not really too important but should only take a couple of minutes)
3. Weed-whack
4. Put old mulch along parking area.

Top priorities for the inside Tuesday & Wednesday
1. Clean Kitchen
2. Clean Living room
3. Work in Library
4. Laundry

Barnes and Noble Nook

You will see that the Barnes and Noble Nooke has been added to "Links to My Tech Stuff" list on the sidebar. Yes, I did get one. Somethings on it I like better than my Sony eReader (PRS-505) and somethings I like less. The main reason I got one was, of course, for the ease of purchasing new books. Many of my books are from Project Gutenburg, FeedBooks, Baen books, et cetera, but occasionally I do read newer stuff. And while Sony/Borders does have a much better selection than formerly, I decided I wanted the ease of over the air downloads. I chose the Nook over the Kindle as I didn't want a keyboard.

Front yard as of Saturday May 22, 2010.

I've more or less completed the mulching from the front door to the North-west corner. It needs a couple more bags of mulch as the landscaping fabric is showing through. I also forgot something on the list I made yesterday. I need to stain or paint the deck in back.

No Tech in this post, Just Yard Work, Lots and Lots of Yard Work.

At least it's a lot of yard work for me. I've got new grass coming up in the south-west corner of the front yard. I'd raked it thoroughly a couple of weeks ago and spread grass seed. I admit I've been a little haphazard on the watering, but it seems to be coming up fine. I spread some of that seed/feed/watering combo stuff in the backyard where they dug the trench to run electricity to the garage I've been watering it and the front this last week.

Wednesday and Thursday of this week I've spent about 5 hours either mowing or raking or weed-whacking. I've also spent over an hour raking up the red mulch in front of the house on the north side of the front stairs. The ground under the mulch was full of tunnels. I'm assuming mole tunnels as I know I have moles, it was also swarming with ants and other creepy-crawlies.

And speaking of moles, Did you hear about the family of moles living next to the sorghum factory? When Spring came and they woke-up the daddy and mommy mole started up the tunnel to the surface, followed by the baby mole. When they reached the top the daddy mole said "smell the fresh grass" mommy mole said "smell the flowers" and baby mole said "All I can smell is molasses."

After raking up all the mulch I took a shower and then decided to enjoy the outdoors. I picked up my eReader (there's the tech part of the blog) and went to the deck, sat down in my new lounger and started reading. After a couple of minutes I said "Rain, I finally a few minutes to enjoy the yard and it starts to rain, figures."

I have Tuesday and Wednesday of next week off so I hope to do more next week. I'm off at 5pm today so I might be able to do a little this evening and/or a little tomorrow morning or Sunday morning, but I'm not counting on it. Currently my yard work priorities are:
1. Put in the edging in front and then the landscaping fabric and new mulch. << Done <<
2. Finish raking the North side of the front yard and re-mow it shorter
3. Spread grass seed on North side of the front yard.
4. Spread grass seed in spotty areas.
5. Spread old mulch along North side of parking area. (also West side?) Or along South side of garage?
6. Rake rock from South side of house from side door to front of house. Replace landscaping fabric and put back rock.
7. Rake, clear, dig, whatever the area between the South side of the house and the sidewalk from the side door back to the South-East corner of the house. Put down fabric and top with rock or mulch.
8. Remove the edging around the South side of the deck and rake out the rock, leaves and what-not. Put down new edging and fabric, put the rock back in and possibly add some new rock or the rock from the North side of the deck.
9. Remove the edging from the North side of the deck and rake out the rock, leaves, et cetera. Put down new edging (extend out to the North edge of house?), fabric and either rock or mulch.
10. Decide what to do about the fence on the North side of yard.
11. Paint or stain the deck.

Well that's all I have time for now.

Rosie in the middle

Here's Rosie taking the lion's share of the bed. Again.

Too Late and Too Sleepy

Image via CrunchBase

Yes, I'm seriously considering getting a iPad. This came about because I was thinking about getting a new eBook Reader. One that I can download books to online. This means either the Kindle (Amazon) or the Nook (Barnes and Noble). Yes, there are others, but these two have the broadest support base. If I do decide to get an iPad it will be instead of upgrading my eReader. Not to replace my eReader.

I am puzzled by comments that the iPad will make the current crop of eReaders obsolete. The iPad is not an eReader, its display is color and back lit. These are both things that will cause additional eyestrain during long reading sessions. As most books are B&W I don't see any advantage to having a color display and as I typically read for long periods I much prefer the reflective light displays as they cause less strain.

The only advantage a color display has is with a limited number of book categories (mostly non-fiction subjects like the Arts, Travel, How-Tos, et cetera) and with periodical literature (Magazines, Comics, et cetera). Personally I seldom read comics or magazines (Archaeology and the occasional cooking magazine being the exceptions to the rule). I do read non-fiction books, but again these seldom have pictures and if they do they're usually B&W.

So why am I thinking of getting the iPad since I'll be keeping my eReader for reading?

I like new toys.

Well, It's way past my bedtime and I'm tired and cranky so Good Night All.