The Gaggle

Christmas Day at the In-Laws. I don't think these geese are aware of what day it is.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! Hopefully Santa Claus made it to your house before the thunderstorms and hail started.

Salmon Chowder

Made salmon chowder tonight for a pot luck at work tomorrow.  It's really good.  I put more dill in it than I meant to, but after tasting it I think it made for a better flavor.  Here's a picture of the finished pot:

Mmmm...

The recipe from allrecipes.com couldn't have been simpler.  Maybe that's why it's called Simple Salmon Chowder II.  I doubled the recipe to make the full pot in the picture.

Possum Surprise

Went to put the faucet covers on and found a couple of toothy new friends in the backyard:

I'll call this one Bitey...

...and this one A Series of Painful Shots In The Stomach, or Cuddles, for short. 

Feline Finds Peculiar Position

Dangerously comfortable

Dot must lay on the clean sheets

Norma's Cafe

Lunch today at Norma's Cafe. So hot, so homemade, so good. The portions were way too big, but thanks to the miracle of to-go containers, I have dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow taken care of.

Or, if I don't want to end my sentence in a preposition:  I have taken care of dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow.

I feel better now.

Norma's Cafe

Walking up to Norma's Cafe (accidental shot, but shows off my favorite sandals by Born)

Like the sign says...

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I don't know about you, but I'm content.

Lamp Cat

KT scheming to get under the covers because it's cold.

Chicago Trip 2012 - Day 7

Well, I never said I was Speedy Gonzbloges.  Here, finally, is the account of the end of our Chicago Trip from April.

Happy Birthday Mom

Happy Birthday Mom - you are loved!

Mom and my brother - chillaxin at Rock'n'Roller Coaster

Mom and I on the teacups - slightly overstimulated  :)

Blue Skies Smiling At Me

I'm amazed how much a good wind and rain will clean the air.  The sky this morning was beautiful.  It was almost like waking up in the mountains - bright blue and clear, even at the horizon line; not tinted the usual brownish-yellow.

That's right, the sky here in the DFW area is hazy and bruised around the edges.  It's like someone had rinsed a dirty window and let the residue settle at the bottom and dry.

Dream A Little Dream

Up at 2:47 this morning, then back to sleep at a little after 6am.  Up again at 9am.  Between 6am and 9am I had an excellent dream about Las Vegas, seduction, revenge, and a really confusing and much more difficult than it needed to be metro train ticket purchasing experience.  Not to mention starring in my own real-life video game and battling giant insects by shooting exploding boxes hiding behind styrofoam walls painted to look like iron-plated walls with my invisible motion-controlled bow and arrow.

A Sunday Afternoon At The State Fair Of Texas

Had a great time with our friends, despite the chilly weather. Started out by riding the giant slide with one of the kids.

Didn't go too hog wild on the food - just had a Fletcher's corn dog (so hot and fresh), fried green tomatoes, which I had never had before and were garlicky and delicious, and a Dole pineapple whip, without which no trip to the fair would be complete.

The two cars that stuck with me from the auto show this year were the Hyundai Veloster turbo and the Hyundai Genesis coupe. Hyundai has never really been on my radar before, but both of these cars had style that stood out, even if the gas mileage didn't. I can't mention the auto show without mentioning the Scion XB. It's not something I would ever drive, but it has my favorite body color - a unique metallic blue/purple.

Elusive Blue Metallic - you had me at hello

We ended the day by treating everyone to a ride on the Texas Star ferris wheel, where it was really, really cold at the top.

XAS RATS

Earthquake

Just had a tremor. Lasted about 2 seconds and felt like something had crashed into the house. Didn't know what was going on (didn't help that I had just finished watching the climatic end to The Avengers).

Strange to call 911 and get a busy signal. That's when you know something is wrong.

Frito Pie

Unhealthy, I know, but so good on a cool, rainy day.

Chili Cheese Fritos Potato at Baker Bros Deli

Enough for two

The view from inside

Chicago Trip 2012 - Day 6

Up at 5am on the 6th day, and not feeling well.  In addition to that, it was a cold, overcast day.  I lay in bed and fiddled around on the iPad until 7am, when I went down to the lobby for a decaf coffee, then went back to the room.  This was our last day in Chicago.

Donate To Public Radio

I did my duty today to support my local public radio station, KERA 90.1.  Have you done yours?

It....It's everywhere

While I was cleaning up the mess in the living room made by my sick cat today, the other cat was tearing around the house like cats sometimes do.  I didn't pay it any attention and bent to my task.  A short while later I could hear her in the laundry room using the litter box, then after that she was tearing around the house again - only this time it sounded different, sort of a shuffling sound.  Again, I didn't pay it any attention, thinking she was chasing one of her toys around or something.

Well, no, that's not what she was doing.  After finishing my cleaning in front of the couch in the living room I stood up and saw the horror she had wrought:  she had apparently had some issues in the litter box, and her solution was to drag her ass around the house, dog-like, leaving a smear of cat shit everywhere - in the laundry room, in the kitchen, in the dining room, by the front door, up the stairs, and somehow on the front of the washing machine.

WARNING:  Gross photo after the jump

Chicago Trip 2012 - Day 5, Part 3

We were going to the Hancock Tower that evening, so we rested at the hotel before heading back out.  I had a slice of leftover stuffed cheese pizza for dinner.

Hancock Tower street view from our hotel

Heart Walk 2012

Chicago Trip 2012 - Day 5, Part 2

After seeing Willis Tower we walked across the street and had lunch at Giordano's.  I had the chicken oregatano (excellent), a salad with bleu cheese and cheese garlic bread.

Pleather and Puppets - What's New at Krispy Kreme

I don't use the word vile very much, but it sums up the new temporary flavors Krispy Kreme is current promoting.  Touting them as "County Fair" fare, they are cotton candy and caramel apple flavored.

Looks like a ring of Naugahyde and something that fell off a Muppet

The cotton candy donut is coated with a crusty shell of grainy blue sugar that just barely tastes vaguely of cotton candy.  For the most part it's like eating a regular glazed donut that's been rolled in additional coarse sugar and left on the counter to harden.

The caramel apple donut is the worse offender of the two.  It's a cake donut covered in a brown "caramel" glaze.  The glaze doesn't really taste like caramel; it just tastes like more sugar.  The cake donut itself though...it tastes like eating one of those uber-scented apple candles you would find at Christmastime - overpoweringly cloying, sweet and tart artificial apple.  It's been almost an hour since I ate it and even after washing it down with a plain glazed donut and a glass of milk, I can't get the flavor out of my mouth.  Mouthwash here I come.

If you're looking for a donut fix, stick with the normal Krispy Kreme lineup or your regular local donut shop.

Cafe Lago

Lunch at Cafe Lago with our friends Sandi and Ryan. Peruvian chicken risotto with field greens. I think I could eat that every day and be happy.

Greetings

Up late - I blame the frappuccino (and by extension, myself). Just lying in bed in the dark with my iPad. And now with you.

Hello, you.

Marshmallow Boy

My order from Rotofugi arrive today.  Meet Marshall and his dog Gumball.

"I'm toasty!"

From the package:  "Marshall Mashumaro was a little boy who ate so many marshmallows he turned into one!  How scary is that?  But...he's just about the cutest little marshmallow boy ever!"

Thanks Rotofugi for the quick order and the hand-drawn receipt - neat stuff!

Eat Sleep Dream Chicken

Amazing how despite the two days of revenge my body is enacting on me for the crapload (yes, exactly) of junk I ate over the weekend, my mind is still turned toward gluttony.  Last night I dreamt that I woke up in the middle of the night and was literally delighted to discover that there were 2 boxes of leftover Chicken Express on the bottom shelf of the refrigerator.  Cold fried chicken and fries - this is what I dream of.

Chicago Trip 2012 - Day 5, Part 1

Up at 7am this day.  Walked down to Starbucks on Chicago Avenue where I unpacked my adjectives and got a venti decaf non-fat vanilla latte and a pumpkin scone.  Back to the hotel where we spent the morning relaxing.

Have You Seen The Milky Way?

This is what we could see without light pollution. The Milky Way over Monument Valley. Photo by Wally Pacholka via the NASA app.

Chicago Trip 2012 - Day 4, Part 3

(Listening to Lou Reed/John Cale - Songs for Drella as I write this - excellent album about the life of Andy Warhol).

After the planetarium we walked to the Field Museum, which is the natural history museum.  We had about an hour before it closed.

The Field Museum

Five Guys Is Not Five Star

Trying something new - Five Guys Burgers and Fries.

Downton Abbey

Downton Abbey is the best.  I don't last through many series - interesting or not, if I'm not in the mood to watch tv at that particular time, then I don't watch it.  The last show that I would work my schedule around was Cheers.  There is no such thing as must-see tv anymore - not for me anyway.

Downton Abbey though, that's some good stuff.  Plus getting the disc through Netflix means I can watch it when I feel like it.

Pterodactyls And Toiletvators

What I dreamed last night:

Grandmother's house so full furniture and knick-knacks and gypsies you could barely squeeze through the walkways.  Then...

Chicago Trip 2012 - Day 4, Part 2

Apologies in advance Chicago, but this next part was pretty lame.  Which is a shame, because usually I'd be all for it.

Nightmares

Up at 3:30 this morning after a nightmare. Not the scary monster kind, the scary real life gone wrong kind.

Lunch With Mom

Had lunch with Mom at Razzoo's. Good company and good food.

Chicago Trip 2012 - Day 4, Part 1

Up at 7am this morning.  Had the hotel coffee again, and finally got going at 11am.  We caught the red line CTA train at Chicago and State and took it toward 95th, then got off at Roosevelt and walked to the Shedd Aquarium.

Take Shelter

Just finished watching the movie Take Shelter. Very good. Another film I would recommend (together with Melancholia) if you want to watch a truly unique vision of how individuals might act if they thought they knew the end was coming.

Chicago Trip 2012 - Day 3, Part 4

Because that's how it happened - after the museum we said "Now is the start of the fourth part of the third day...."

I hope you don't actually believe that.

Here's what happened next:

Expensive Cat Barf

Up again with the cat. She's been tossing up the special vet food that is supposed to maybe help her gain weight. It's not going to do any good if she can't keep it down.

Here's A Little Poem I've Written

Sometimes a cannon, Sometimes a squeak, Sometimes the same, Sometimes unique. Sometimes a bass, Sometimes a tenor, Sometimes dessert, Sometimes like dinner. Sometimes we remember And know in our hearts, There's no getting past it: Everyone farts.

Chicago Trip 2012 - Day 3, Part 3

After we watched the fountain we walked down to, then through, Millennium Park to get to the Art Institute of Chicago.

On the way to the Art Institute

A Trip To The Vet

One of the cats went to the vet this afternoon. Still way too skinny. Had a lot of poking and prodding done to my wallet. Now to wait for the lab results.

Happy Father's Day Scott and John

John and Todd at the Biltmore Estate - November, 2011

John in London - October, 2002

Scott and Tori with Tori's first car - January, 2011

Proud Papa - January, 2011

Chicago Trip 2012 - Day 3, Part 2

After lunch we admired the architecture as we walked down to the Chicago River.

Tribune Tower

Chicago Trip 2012 - Day 3, Part 1

Ok, so where was I?  Oh yeah....day 3.

Time For Bed

The cat is now curled up against my side, purring herself to sleep. I'm going to try to do the same. Only with little to no purring.

The Cat Is Sick

Ugh, cat barf everywhere. Woke up in a sweat myself. So tired, but now wide awake. The cat's going to have to go to the vet. I hope they can do something for her. I keep thinking about the Seinfeld episode where our "deal" with the animals breaks down and George ends up having to pay for very tiny, very expensive, surgical instruments to be brought in from El Paso for a squirrel he hit.

Chicago Trip 2012 - Day 2

Woke up to the sight of the Mississippi River on the outskirts of St. Louis.

Meet Me in St. Louis

Things I Saw While On The Train

A white balloon caught by the string in the middle of a field of dead grass.  A giant concrete statute of a rabbit.  A cell phone tower that looked like a cross between the Eiffel tower and the Seattle Space Needle.  Mesquite trees.  Mimosas.  Cacti.  Abandoned buildings.  Clothes drying on the line.  Graveyards.  Graffiti.  The brown waterfalls of a waste-water treatment plant.  A picnic table and bench beside a stream in the middle of nowhere.  A wild turkey.  Prisons.  A nuclear power plant.

Chicago Trip 2012 - Day 1

We boarded the Texas Eagle at Dallas Union Station at 3:20pm.  The train departed at 3:40pm.

Dallas Union Station

About Taking The Train To Chicago

This was my first Amtrak train ride since I was 4 or 5 years old.  This trip was originally going to be a road trip, which I really enjoy, but then on a lark I looked into what would be involved if we took the train instead.

We had booked a "roomette" for the journey to and from Chicago since we would be traveling overnight. The roomette is a small 3x6 compartment that has two seats that face each other with a small table that folds down between.  The seats fold flat and come together in the middle to form a bed, and another bed folds down in the top of the compartment.

Luxury Accommodations

The little cabin wasn't actually that bad.  It allowed for privacy and had a large private window that could be curtained off.  In addition there was a sliding door and window into the train aisle, and both also had curtains that could be closed and held together with velcro.  The door locked from the inside only, so if you left the compartment you took your valuables with you.  The cabin controls were much like an airplane with reading lights, cabin lights, air vents, an electrical outlet and a call button for the car attendant (I don't think they're called porters anymore).

The sleeping cars are double-decker (our roomette was on the top level going and coming back).  The upper level has 1-2 bathrooms which are exactly like an airplane bathroom, and a little coffee/water/juice station where you could help yourself.  The lower level had more bathrooms and a couple of shower rooms as well.  The lower level also had a communal berth where passengers left their carry-on luggage.

Those passengers that are booked in the sleeping cars have 3 meals a day included in their ticket price.  What I didn't expect was how good the entree was.  More on that in the trip report.  The side dishes and desserts were pretty ho-hum, and everything was served on flimsy, cheap plasticware.  Dinner is the only meal that is by reservation, meaning that shortly after boarding the train the dining-car attendant comes by and asks at what time would you like to have dinner.  Breakfast and lunch are first come, first served.  If there's a wait you sit in the adjacent observation car until you are called.  All meals are communal - couples are asked to sit side-by-side, and another couple or two strangers sit at the table across from you.  A little awkward if you're not in the mood to be social, but otherwise part of the adventure.

When it comes time to sleep, the car attendant will come by and set up the bunks.  Getting into the upper bunk is a little tricky.  In the photo above you can see two shelves on the left by the cabin door.  These are the steps.  You're supposed to undress first, climb up to the top, heave your leg up and since there's not much headroom, roll yourself into the bunk.  Once you're in, there is a heavy duty harness that hooks into the ceiling from the edge of the bed to keep you from falling out.  The top bunk is a) more claustrophobic than the lower bunk, b) right beside the main air vent for the cabin, making it colder, and c) not as padded as the lower bunk.  While I didn't have any problem, I can see that it could make a lot of people very uncomfortable to be up there.

Now for a couple of things that weren't on any printed materials and that I didn't think about until they actually happened.  Two of them were just inconvenient, and the other you should prepare for:

1. The horn.  Depending on how close the sleeping car is to the engine, the horn can be annoying.  Trains are required to blow their horn at every intersection, and by God there are a lot of intersections between here and Chicago.  I'm pretty good at tuning out background noise so it wasn't too bad, but on the ride to Chicago our car was only 2 away from the front of the train.  On the way back the sleeping car was at the end of the train, and I couldn't even hear the horn.  Bring headphones or earplugs if needed.
2. Taking care of business in the middle of the night if you're in the top bunk.  No sleepily stumbling out of bed and plodding down the hall to bathroom, then falling back into bed half-asleep.  You will be fully awake as you have to (in the dark) unhook the sleeping harness, wriggle out of the sleeping bag-like bed, roll and lower yourself onto the top-most step, put on some clothes in a space about a foot wide, put your shoes on as shoes must be worn in the hallways, un-velcro the curtains which seem louder than the train itself at 2am when everyone is sleeping, unlatch and slide open the door, stumble down the hall balancing yourself on other people's cabins as your lurch to the bathroom, do what you have to do while the train is rocking, then repeat it all in reverse to get back in bed.  This is very complex, and there is no way to be quiet enough so as not to wake the person in the lower bunk.
3. Train motion.  I fully expected the train to bounce, rock, jerk and lurch during the trip and it did although for the most part it was consistent and not too bad.  There were extremes at both ends where it was really smooth and where it felt like it was about to jump the tracks.  There was much more side-to-side motion than I expected.  Motion sickness is not a problem for me, but if it is for you, be prepared.  What I was not prepared for was the after-effects once we disembarked from the train.  Whoa-nelly it was bad.  Not sickening, just bad.  You can read more in my trip report.

All-in-all, the train trip was fun and added to the adventure of the trip.  It has its charms but it also has its drawbacks; being sick on the way back was miserable.  It was much more convenient than driving and took about the same amount of time overall.  I saw different scenery that I would have from the highway, but a lot of that consisted of industrial areas, old abandoned buildings and run down train stations.  Oh, and a lot of backyards.  Backyards filled with crap.  While it costs about the same to fly, and on a plane of course you get there much quicker, this was a fun alternative to a road trip.  It was relaxing for the most part.  Would I do it again?  Well........

Ho Hum Prometheus

Saw Prometheus. It. Was. Ok. Great filmmaking. Good story. Good scenes and set pieces. Not enough time given to character development and motivation, plus scenes are disjointed with no lasting emotional resonance from one to the other. I was also shocked at the number of standard interplanetary health and safety precautions the "doctors" violated and the speed with which they violated them (I'm not that big of a nerd, but everyone knows not to take your helmet off and handle alien biological material at the same time).  It's a good movie, but if Ridley Scott had put 30 more minutes into it getting me to connect to the characters it would have been great.

Prometheus

Prometheus tonight in IMAX 3D. So. Very. Excited.

Home Again, Home Again, Hack Sniff Snort Cough

Back from Chicago and sick as a dog. Luckily it started on the last day - the rest of the trip was great. I'll post trip reports once I'm back up to at least 75%. Right now all I want to do is crawl in a hole.

My Favorite Things - Part 2

Some of my favorite movies:

Gosford Park
I could watch this movie every week and not get tired of it. The inner workings of a shooting party at an English country manor are on display in Robert Altman's film. The murder/mystery plot is an excellent vehicle to deliver fully fleshed-out characters, expertly portraying the roles and relationships of the house's staff and guests.

L.A. Story
Steve Martin is a genius, and one whose talents are not solely relegated to comedy. While L.A. Story is a great, smart, silly comedy, it's also a magical and powerful love story. The love on the screen is equally shared for his co-star and ex-wife Victoria Tennant, and for the city itself. You'll laugh and cry; the latter mostly caused by the former.

Amelie
I was already a fan of director Jean-Pierre Jeunet from his beyond-excellent film, The City of Lost Children. Amelie is his masterwork. This is the Parisian version of L.A. Story; no less magical, powerful or wonderful than its American cousin.

The Fountain
Darren Aronofsky's film was originally set to have a much larger budget and much larger stars, but that would have resulted in a much different film, which I am thankful didn't happen. Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz's love spans a millennium as he goes beyond the ends of the earth to save her. History, science and science fiction come together to tell the story of a man determined and devoted to keep his world from falling apart. Aronofsky would go on to direct The Black Swan.

The Fall
A dark motivation drives a visually striking fairy tale. A hospitalized, suicidal stunt man creates a vivid, fantastic story for a young girl as an enticement to garner her assistance in his demise. The juxtaposition of the real world and the main character's motives/manipulation compared to the fantasy world of the story and the girl's innocence makes the film emotionally complex. The child actress is perfect at being a child instead of an actress, which causes extreme emotional empathy at the film's/story's climax.

Blades of Glory
Pure silliness. I laugh hard whenever I watch this movie. Two disgraced male figure skaters with opposite personalities find a loophole that will allow them to compete again as a same-sex pairs team. Aside from his Saturday Night Live work, I'm not really a Will Ferrell fan, but he is outstanding in this film and Stranger than Fiction.

A Nun's Story
Audrey Hepburn as a young woman entering the convent and attempting to adhere to its ways and habits (get it? nyuk, nyuk) while struggling with her own personal desires. A serious movie treated with dignity and respect.

Young Frankenstein
Talk about comic genius! Mel Brooks and Gene Wilder and Marty Feldman and Cloris Leachman and Teri Garr and Madeline Kahn. Ridiculous and sublime.

Kwaidan
A collection of Japanese ghost stories filmed with minimal dialogue and mostly subtle dread. Released in 1964 and available as a Criterion Collection dvd.

Brazil
Terry Gilliam's masterful futuristic black comedy fantasy of bureaucracy gone wrong. Well, much more wrong than is customary. In addition the film shows the dangerous things that can happen when you start believing in yourself and pursuing your dreams.

Signs
It's a shame what M. Night Shyamalan did to his career after this movie, but oh well. (The Village was mostly decent). Signs is a dark lesson in faith brought on by an alien invasion. The impending dread leading up to the invasion is masterful. With some truly terrifying moments allowing the viewer to actually experience what it would feel like to know, not necessarily to see, but to know that malevolent aliens or monsters were within a stone's throw, watching and waiting.

Contact
On its surface Contact is a film about discovering that we are not alone. Jodie Foster is a SETI (look it up) researcher who discovers a signal, and creepily, instructions, from another galaxy. The quest to decipher the signal and whether or not we should follow those directions inform the rest of the film. At its heart, the movie is about the dichotomy of belief into faith versus science, and explores each with an intelligence not seen before in film.

Ok, I could go on and on, but this was originally only meant to be a top 3 or top 5 list. Instead it's the top 12 of ? I'll have to break this into installments.

Happy Memorial Day

Happy Memorial Day everyone. If you don't have to work then today's a day to get outdoors and be a part of life. Enjoy the day.

Attack the Block

Here's a pic.