Cat Video

It's been a while since I've posted, quite a while. Anyway, here's a cute video of our new cat Dora.

Which Wine Works Well?

I just discovered this neat widget from wine writer Natalie MacLean which helps guide you when choosing which type of wine to pair with your meal. Or, if you haven't been to the grocery store yet, you can look at the options on your wine rack and find a dish that would go well with the wine you have available.



Source: Epicurious.com.

We Read Good

I just read an article on USA Today posting the results of a study of the most literate "big" cities of the United States. Guess which one ranks 1st??

Minneapolis of course.

Well, there are actually two cities that tied, we apparently can't edge out Seattle. If you look down the list, St. Paul comes in at #4. While this statistic isn't earth-shattering, it certainly makes me proud of our great state.

Merry Christmas from John Malkovich

So Thankful

Another belly-filling Thanksgiving has come and gone and I have to say that eating three large meals in the course of 4 days takes its toll! My wife and I hosted our first Thanksgiving meal on Thursday and surprisingly, it went off without a hitch. We had over the immediate family and enjoyed 10 hours of food, fun and Fireside Nut Brown.

The food was great and all, but we also sat down and enjoyed a great comedy together. The Darjeeling Limited is a stellar movie directed by the esteemed Wes Anderson. It's always tough to pick a movie that eight people can enjoy. Three of us had already seen it and I seemed to feel that it was enjoyed by everyone. This film follows the story of three brothers trekking through India on a train, each having some additional emotional baggage they carry on. The dialog and banter between them is wonderful, and the movie also brings in some touching human elements. I give it 4.5/5 peacock feather ceremonies.

The Friday after Thanksgiving was a sit-on-my-butt-and-digest day, and I took that opportunity to let laziness set in and I watched four movies. Kind of sick, right?
Well, here's a brief run-down:
The Time Machine - This was on TV and I just went with it. Not that great, 2.5/5 morlocks.
Outbreak - Conveniently this movie came on right after The Time Machine and I was much more impressed with it. Dustin Hoffman never disappoints and the movie was an interesting peek into the scary scenario of a virus epidemic. 3.5/5 last minute antidotes.
National Treasure 2: Book of Secrets - Now, I liked the first film, but this one was like watching it all over again. It wasn't original, and I didn't get as excited about all the clue-solving and code-breaking as I did with Nick Cage's first adventure. 2/5 conspiracy theories.
Rambo (the new one) - My brother and I stayed up late watching this one, and I regret that decision. This was the first Rambo film I've seen in it's entirety and I wasn't impressed. The violence was too much and the plot was boring and predictable. 2.5/5 unnecessary decapitations.

There you go. My wife and I are now sitting down to another movie this Monday evening, Kung Fu Panda. I'm hopeful that Jack Black will put some smiles on my face.

Recent Viewings

I just realized that I haven't been keeping up with my blogging, and I apologize friends.
I don't feel like writing any lengthy reviews, so here are a few brief one-line thoughts on the most recent films I've watched.

Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End - 3.5/5 Not as great as the 1st, but better than the 2nd. Solid action, great acting by Depp, too lengthy.
Madagascar - 3.5/5 I wasn't expecting much from this movie, but it turned out to be quite hilarious.
Boy A - 4/5 A very good but depressing drama, recommended to me by a Blockbuster store employee, thank you!
Layer Cake - 4.5/5 One excellent British crime drama, Daniel Craig plays a suave criminal who just wants to get out, but unfortunately all hell breaks loose. Very enjoyable.
Sleepers - 4.5/5 Wow. Dark, twisted, but amazing.
Cool Hand Luke - 5/5 An amazing classic. I can't believe it took me this long in my lifetime to watch this wonderful film. I watched it about 1 day before Paul Newman passed away, so sad.

I also haven't shared the news about my newest bad idea purchase. Well, it didn't seem like a bad idea at the time, but now that the economy has tanked, I realize the money could have been spent a little more wisely, but that's all in the past. Here is a small photo of our new HDTV, the Vizio VO42LF.
Watching films, playing Wii and enjoying HD broadcasting with the new LCD HDTV has been quite a joy! We also bought a cheap Philips Up-Converting DVD player that beefs up the DVD picture so that it can be enjoyed on the HDTV, let me tell you, I have no immediate plans to buy a Blu-Ray player, because regular garden-variety DVDs look fabulous!

Sorry again about the lack of posts, but life has just been a whirlwind now that my wife has begun teaching again and that Summer's over. We moved into our first home at the end of July, and that has been keeping us busy with the unpacking and decorating. I hope to be back to at least a few posts per month, we'll see.
Ciao, Mike

Woo ooh, yee ooh