The word 'Doomsday' could also sum up the movie...

Last night I watched 'Doomsday' before hitting the kitchen. The star Caryn Peterson may be smoking gorgeous, but the movie was pretty difficult to watch in its entirety. It seems like they tried to made a new version of Mad Max/Escape From New York/28 Days, and fell short on the attempt. I can't recommend this one, unless they offer it as a free rental, that comes with a bag of popcorn, and a 2 liter of Pepsi.

After I suffered through that, I had to start cooking for the International Potluck here at work today. I wanted to skip it completely, as I'm not a big pot luck kinda guy, but wasn't given the chance to skip it. I made my Pepperoni-Black Olive Angel Hair Pasta dish. When it was all done, I sat down and watched America's Got Talent, it was the final audition episode, and featured contestants from MySpace. I get the impression it's easier to perform in front of your webcam, and have the illusion that what you are doing is cool, than it is to actually entertain normal people.

When that was over, I had the ingredients so I made a batch of Chocolate Pizzelle's. Those are Italian waffle like cookies.


This is a picture of someone else's creation off the internet, but you get the idea.
It was of course raining this morning as I tried to carry in my slow-cooker, a tupperware bowl with the pasta, and another tupperware with the cookies.

Tonight I finally return to the trainer (had to cxl last two weeks) then I have to go by my parents to put out their trash can, stop by the bank so I can get my haircut tomorrow after work (she prefers cash). I was supposed to water the plants at my folks, but its still sprinkling outside so I probably won't have to. Then another trip back to their house tomorrow to bring the trash cans in, plus I get to keep watering / checking in, on their place for the next week.

busy busy busy here at work today.

ciao!



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Now playing: Georges Bizet - Au Fond Du Temple Saint
via FoxyTunes

The Shield....ya I'm late on this one!

So lately with Netflix I have been ordering Television series that I had previously missed. For example, I cruised through the "Battlestar Galactica" series (now waiting for this years final season to be on DVD). I also enjoyed the two part 'The Lost Room', and was very disappointed to read Sci-Fi channel had no plans for a series or more episodes. (I still recommend it, it was great). After watching a couple episodes of 'Dexter' on TV (the ones edited on like channel 9) I put the unedited season 1 into my que.

So after hearing the hype for years, I decide to give 'The Shield' a try. Wow.....simply put. After watching the first episode, I logged into Netflix, and added season 2-8, even though the last couple aren't even on DvD yet. I also bumped them up the list so I could spend the next couple weeks watching the show. After disc 1 and 2, I ran into a speed bump when disc 3 of season 1 just locked up. The second episode (on that disc) gets to a certain point and stops. I tried a few tricks, but no matter what, nothing would play after the disc got to that scene. I had to report it as damaged/unplayable to Netflix, and now I will have to wait a couple days so I don't get out of sequence.

If you have never watched this show I recommend it. What is nice about this day and age of DvD's is that you can rent 6 seasons of this show, watch it commercial free, and on your schedule. Be warned though, this is not a show for the kiddies. It is centered around a dirty cop, who bends the rules between good and bad.

I spent most of Saturday talking myself out of driving into town and spending money for no reason. Sunday I did make a trip to the grocery store and did some cooking. I made some mashed potatoes (box), Honey-Butter Cornbread, and 3/4 of my chicken salad. 3/4 because I ran outta mayo, and have to go back to the store to finish making it. I then tried a new recipe for a very simple Garlic Spaghetti dish. I had to find a store that sold fresh mint, and will be trying it today for lunch.

Have a good Monday (if that's possible)

ciao!

BS form letters from politicians,a cool website, and new Movie Trailers

So I get these 'Defenders of Wildlife' email alerts, and usually they have a form letter you can modify, and send off to your local politician. They result in a 'form letter' response, sometimes through the snail mail, or e-mail. Well there is this huge fight going on regarding drilling in Alaska. So I did the email thing, and get a BS form letter back from the so called Senator Roberts here in KS. In the form letter, they slipped in a short sentence, which my original email was talking about. Since you can't reply to these, I went directly to his website (if you have time, please also do this, the more letters he gets the more chance he will actually read one), anyway, here is the email I sent back through the site....

"a small portion of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska."

That is an not acceptable, reports show drilling in the natural habitat of these Endangered animals would take years to actually reduce the price of the almighty oil. Even then, by maybe 5 cents. Instead of possibly causing the death of these animals, maybe more investigations into the tax breaks oil companies receive, yet still record record profits, and continue to raise prices claiming there is some shortage A shortage, that is only supported by the same people over the last few years who have gradually raised the price to get as rich as they possibly can before alternative fuels do become more common and affordable. The people in a position to force this broken system to be fixed are in no hurry, because their gas tanks are filled up with tax payers cash, and not out of their overblown salaries.

We are not idiots, it is plain as day that this oil crisis is a hoax filled with smoke and mirrors by the very same people who are filling their pockets with my actual earned money."

If you do take the time, there is a drop down box on the senators website that lets you pick "arctic refuge" as the subject line.

I stumbled across a pretty cool site yesterday, so I'll share. It is called 'pocketmod' and it is a free tool to create a small foldable pocket size, well, notebook I guess. There are so many uses, calling it a planner isn't enough. You can pick 9 different template pages on their site, then print it off, fold it up, and you have your own pocketmod. You can also download their PDF--Pocketmod application, and create completely custom versions. Check out this article on Lifehacker, where a user made her own workout schedule, and a travel itinerary. Here is a video of how to fold your pocketmod once printed.



Movie Trailers!!

Quantum of Solace
007


Body of Lies
DiCaprio and Crowe in a spy movie....oooo ya



The Watchmen
Amazing graphic novel...and a very famous graphic novel among the comic bookers.



Terminator: Salvation
Mr Bale is having a great run, I honestly hope that he isn't lying about the false arrest in England




ok, enough for today, have a good weekend

ciao!

Depth of Field pictures

Oh my garsh! My buddy Alex left a comment!!!

Another digital photography post, mixed with a little photoshop trickery. As I continue to learn how to take better pictures at night, I want to add the ability to take a picture with 'depth of field'. my first trip to Italy, I actually did this, when I was asked to take a picture of one of the couples on the trip. It was a complete accident, but the result was one of my favorite pictures of them. They posed sitting on the Spanish steps in Rome, and when we saw the picture afterwards, I had them in focus, and everything else with a small blur. This effect really makes your subject pop-out, and is useful when you want that focus effect, of course if it's a picture of someone posing with something significant in the background, let's say maybe your friend pointing at the leaning tower of Pisa, then you would not want to do this.

A similar effect can be added manually afterwards in Photoshop. I'm not sure which is better, when going for this, if it is to take the original picture with DoF (Depth of Field) or to create it after. My guess would be after, since I'm not sure you could reverse this in Photoshop. I think the safe bet would be to take the picture twice, one with DoF, and one without, if you want to be safe.

Here are two examples I put together, side by side, before the DoF effect, and after. You will probably have to click the image, to really see what's going on. I used a picture of an adorable puppy at Lake Como, in Bellagio Italy, and one of the cemetery images I posted yesterday.





ciao!

Graveyard outside Chicago

I'm throwing some pics up here for a friend to see, it's the quickest way to share them, since I'm working at home, and they are in the office.

About 2 years ago I went on a vacation to Chicago. My friend took me to one of the most beautiful cemeteries I have ever seen. Mount Carmel has an impressive list of tenants. You might recognize names such as ...
Alphonse Capone, Dean O'Banion, Sam Giancana, and the list goes on...


Here are a couple shots I took. (Don't forget if you click the image, it will open full size)





Look for more as I learn how to take better pictures....

ciao!

More good Animal News

This is great news for one of the most beautiful animals in the wild.

If I lived there, and my so called 'governor' said this, I would be at the front door of his office holding a sign that read "i cant wait to vote for someone who was not an inbred, moronic, a$$hole, to be the new governor"

From Defenders of Wildlife:

A federal judge has restored endangered species protections for wolves in Greater Yellowstone and the Northern Rockies.

The ruling by a district court judge in Montana could save the lives of hundreds of wolves by stopping this fall's planned wolf sport hunting seasons in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming.

Idaho Governor C.L. Butch Otter -- who said last year that he wanted to be one of the first in the state to shoot a wolf -- immediately criticized the judge’s ruling to restore protections for wolves. Wyoming’s Governor has vowed that his state will fight the ruling.

Idaho Anti-Wolf Coalition leader Ron Gillette was even more direct, telling a local reporter that "[i]t is going to be all-out war."

In fact, I went over to his website, the "honorable" governor inbred himself and clicked the contact the governor's office. I used a fake Boise, Idaho address, with a fake email, and left a comment, promising to support any opposition in future elections. Head over here if you want to also let them know how you feel about his "opinion".

ciao!



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Now playing: William Fitzsimmons - Body for My Bed

Long post....

Well first off, the beautiful D-Lo left a comment asking about the Italy party, I'm sure at some point I posted here about. So, to answer her question....

July 5th, my parents had a party at their house for the group of people who traveled to Italy last October. The slide-show/movie I created from the pictures was going to premiere and as an extra treat I cooked for everyone. I went over early to start, and got the slow cooker going, and prepped the salads. Here are pics of what I cooked.

Chicago Dog Salad
The original recipe calls for making this with hot dogs, which I personally don't like, so I substitute Italian Sausage. This is sort of a grown ups version of a loaded hot dog. It has a mustard sauce, and is made with cabbage, onions, etc. It is like getting a hot dog at a street vendor with all the toppings.








Italian Green Been Salad
This is a recipe from my sister, real simple, and I leave out the tomatoes. Served cold, with a Italian salad dressing, and sliced up mozzarella string cheese.










Italian Chicken & Potatoes
This is made in the slow-cooker, with Chicken, Potatoes, Parmesan cheese, Italian Salad dressing, and Italian seasoning.











Beef & Cheese Ravioli in a Balsamic Brown Butter Sauce

Simple Ravioli, and as it's called, tossed in a Balsamic vinegar and browned butter sauce.









Cinnamon Fettuccine Carbonara

Pancetta (Italian Bacon) and smoked Bacon with a cinnamon carbonara sauce.











Parmesan Encrusted Pork Chops

Pork Chops with a Parmesan crust.











Venetian Panino's

This is a variation of a panini sandwich made at Harry's Bar in Venice. It has a Dijon, garlic, Gruyere spread on it and is yummy.










The food was a success, I had requests for recipes, and everyone had a different favorite. After cooking, we mingled downstairs to watch the 45 min movie. I explained what each person was receiving (dvd with movie, dvd with everyone's pictures, and their original discs sent to me). We all settled in and had some good memories from the show. Lots of applause later, and a few $$ tips, and that sums it all up.

Ok, second group of pics are a few that turned out good from Friday night. A friend who is a professional photographer took me and another mutual friend out to give us a lesson on how to take good night shots. We met on the plaza around 8:30 and I rolled back into my garage at 3am, which I spent the rest of the weekend recovering from.

We started out at the Liberty Memorial.
































Finally a shot of Union Station from the Memorial, and we moved onto the next site.
















Down at the Power & Light District I learned how to take tracer shots of car lights.












We drove a little outside of the city limits, and for these next ones, I had to squeeze between a chain link fence, to sit on a hill overlooking the highway.















That about sums up the Italy party, and my Friday night. Sunday I went to a double header movie with my mom. We saw Hellboy II, and Batman: The Dark Knight. Last night I cooked a Jalapeno-Lime Chicken for lunch today, hope it turned out ok!

ciao!

Thumbs up for Overstock.com

Yes, I know, I haven't posted for awhile.

Great news! Overstock.com, an online retailer has gone Fur-Free! Here pretty much the whole email I received making the announcement. I have purchased from them before, and this guarantees it will happen again. I'll add their link to the sidebar.

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With summer in full swing and animal fur rightfully banished to the closet, The Humane Society of the United States reflects on recent achievements for furbearing animals. I want to share some of what we have accomplished with your help, and to let you know how you can help us attain even more.

Overstock.com is Going Fur-Free

The CEO of this powerhouse online merchant met personally with our campaign director to hear about the cruelty inherent in fur production. He was inspired to turn the company fur-free as of today. Overstock.com advertises apparel, designer accessories, bed-and-bath goods, sporting goods, and other merchandise. The company does $700 million in sales annually.

Fur-Free List Hits 100

Our Fur-Free Designer and Retailer List hit the 100 mark with the addition of Overstock.com. And just two months ago, we were pleased to add BCBG. I've always preferred shopping with companies that take cruelty issues seriously, and I hope you feel the same way. Always check our growing list at humanesociety.org/furfreeshopping before you shop.

Investigators Put the Heat on False Ads and Labels.

We don't let up on designers and retailers who pass off animal fur as the wrong species -- or as faux fur -- to consumers like you. Our latest investigation into stores and online retailers around the country found numerous problems, and we named more than a dozen companies in a legal complaint to the Federal Trade Commission. You can view the companies, jackets, ads, and labels in two reports, here [PDF] and here [PDF].

States are Passing Laws to Require Honest Labeling

Our staff worked with New York state legislators to pass a law that requires all garments with animal fur to say "real fur" on the tag -- no exceptions, no loopholes. And just days ago, the Delaware Governor signed into law a similar bill.

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New Adult Swim Robot Chicken Star Wars parody.

How about a teaser trailer for Christian Bale's new movie?



Gotta get back into the posting swing slow, so that's it for today.

ciao!



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Now playing: The Dandy Warhols - Did You Make A Song With Otis
via FoxyTunes