Question 2 - Grow up and Get a job

8 Questions Part 2

What do you want to be when you grow up?

This answer is incredibly boring, but I'm the kind of person that treasures security. I want to be a property owner. I'm still young, and I have lots of time to accomplish that goal, but for now? I'm impatient.

As a child I lived in a comfortable home with my parents and my younger brother and we had a modest back yard where we could play on our swings and help Mom plant her garden (sometimes slightly overgrown) and sit on the picnic table and blow bubbles while Dad mowed the lawn.

Some day I want that for myself.

8 Questions Game

I've been tagged! Spinndiva of Rambling Designs poses 8 simple questions which will help readers know more about me! I owe her one because I now have a real reason to get myself on this blog and typing! Thank you for the nudge!

And to really get the most out of it, I'm going to give each question its own post, why not?

1) What's your staple meal? (What do you cook most often when you aren't feeling adventurous?)

Kevin and I (Amanda) recently purchased America's Test Kitchen: Let's Get Cooking for the Nintendo DS. Ever since then, I'm not sure we still HAVE a staple meal! Step by step instructions and encouragement read in a soothing voice for classic American staples have made us more willing to put some extra time into our meals.

We used to default to a frozen pizza, but the pizza crust recipe is so easy and quicker than one would expect that we now are quite happy to make pizza from scratch!

Our favorite toppings? Mushrooms, pepperoni, deli turkey and cayenne pepper.
I like anchovies, but I know when I buy them they are for me and me alone.

Wondering what we eat when we aren't following video game instructions? Pasta. Easy, fast and fun to embellish. Our toppings of choice? Chorizo and corn.

For those that don't know, chorizo is a delicious sausage available both refrigerated or smoked and is flavored with Mexican spices such as cumin, cayenne, and many different peppers. I prefer refrigerated because it cooks so quickly and there's no need to chop it up. Be warned though, it is NOT a lean meat! If you're on a strict diet, be prepared to sacrifice dessert!

Spicy Chorizo Chili Mac (for 2)
6 oz Spaghetti (macaroni, rigatoni, and shells also work well)
8 oz refrigerated picante chorizo
1/2 of a small onion, diced (vidalia is my choice!)
1 15 oz can of sweet corn
6 oz shredded cheddar cheese
parsley for garnish opt.
cilantro for garnish opt.
salt for boiling water

Put salted water on to boil. Cook your choice of pasta according to package directions and drain. In a separate pan, place the uncased chorizo in a cold pan set to medium high heat. Brown the meat. Add the diced onion and saute with the chorizo for about 5 minutes. Add the drained can of corn to the pan just until heated through. Plate the spaghetti, pour the chorizo, onion and corn mixture on top. Top with cheese as well as parsley or cilantro. Enjoy and have water on hand to cool the burn!

The Particularly Late Christmas Specials Recaps

This year, Amanda and I decided to watch at least one Christmas special each day, starting from the first of December up until Christmas day. We chose which ones largely based on what we already had or could easily find at the library or on television. I had intended to write a blog post with brief thoughts on each one, but procrast - er, didn't find the time until now. So, even though it's weeks late, I still want to write this post!

December 1st - Blackadder's Christmas Carol
I love this one. Basically, Edmund Blackadder - who in most of the rest of the series is an arrogant, sarcastic jerk - is in this special known to be loving and generous. Though I don't want to give away the ending, perhaps you can guess how it ends anyway. This noteably features appearances by the younger Hugh Laurie, Jim Broadbent, and Robbie Coltrane (who, pre-Hagrid, plays a scruffy giant).

December 1st - Christmas in Pac-Land I think this is the only Christmas special (listed here) that we watched online. I thought it might be interesting just because I like Pac-Man in general, but it's really basically a mediocre Hanna-Barbera cartoon in Pac-Man clothes. The big thing though, that I think this special has going for it is that the voice of Santa Claus is Peter Cullen....Optimus Prime himself.

December 2nd - Beauty and the Beast: Enchanted Christmas
It's pretty awful. I had seen it once before, and wanted to sit through it because watching bad movies can be fun, but I ended up regretting it. I think it's worth mentioning, though, that it features something that I would find rare in a Christmas special: a Jewish character! Well, a character who talks like a stereotypical Jewish person, anyway. Does that count?

December 3rd - Good Eats with Alton Brown (School of Hard Nogs, It's a Wonderful Cake, and The Cookie Clause)
Ha! Betcha didn't expect any non-fiction Christmas specials, didja? These are three episodes that will teach you not only how to make egg nog, fruitcake, and Christmas-style sugar cookies, but will also teach you the history and science behind those recipes!
Tidbit: In the DVD "Ask Alton" feature, one of the questions asks about "the actor who played Santa Claus." Alton, slightly puzzled, answers, "That...that was the real Santa Claus."

December 3rd - Mickey's Christmas Carol Why is it Mickey's Christmas Carol? I understand that it needed to be titled so as to separate it from other versions of the story, and Mickey is a favorite character but...as Bob Crachit, he doesn't really, well, do much. The plot affects him, but he does nothing to affect the plot. How about A Disney Christmas Carol or Scrooge McDuck's Christmas Carol?
Anyway, the secondary thing I have to say about this is...it's short. It's a cute interpretation of the book, but squeezing the whole thing into thirty minutes makes it seem very rushed.
Also: Is it just me, or would Peter Pan have made a much more fitting Ghost of Christmas Past than Jiminy Cricket?

December 4th - Emmett Otter's Jugband Christmas Special


December 5th - The Christmas Toy There's not much I have to say about this that Brian hasn't already said. One of the things I really like about this is that it features almost every type of puppetry imaginable: string puppets, hand puppets, hand-and-rod puppets, robotic puppets, and even a strange Barbie-type doll which was ... I'm not even sure how it worked.
Also, this is the only family Christmas special I can think of in which the characters are threatened with the fear of dying. They may be toys, but they know that if they're even seen out-of-place by a human, they're as good as dead. It's surprisingly scary, actually.

December 6th - Futurama (XMas Story, a Tale of Two Santas)

December 7th - Santa Claus is Coming to Town

December 7th - South Park: The Spirit of Christmas

December 8th - Prep & Landing This was the most "fresh" Christmas special I had seen this year, by which I mean I saw it the very first time it aired. It was certainly entertaining and well-made. I like that it featured all-original characters (well, unless you count The Big Guy himself), the jokes and gags were funny, and the story was decent. In fact, I liked it so much that I think the only thing wrong with it was that it was too short. The story picks up quite quickly without taking much time to establish the characters. Because of this, it seemed liked I was watching an episode of a longer series, or the latter half-hour of a much-longer movie. So to summarize, the only thing I didn't like about it is that there wasn't more to like.

December 9th - Christmas Eve on Sesame Street

Tidbit: This one has a definitely Jewish character in Mr. Hooper.

December 10th - Wonderpets Save the Nutcracker!

December 11th - 'Twas the Night Before Christmas [Rankin-Bass]

December 12th - Invader Zim: The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever

December 12th - It's a Wonderful Life

December 13th - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer [Rankin-Bass], Rudolph's Shiny New Year

December 13th - Robot Chicken (Nightmare Generator)
The only part of this episode that has to do with Christmas is the final sketch (which I believe is called a "runner"), which is a Cold Case-style take on the murder of Santa Claus. Since Robot Chicken is a primarily stop-motion show, it's awfully appropriate that favorite Rankin-Bass specials are parodied.

December 14th - Animaniacs (A Christmas Plotz, Little Drummer Warners, 'Twas The Day Before Christmas, Jingle Boo, The Great Wakkorotti: The Holiday Concert) In "A Christmas Plotz," the plot of A Christmas Carol is retold in even less time than Mickey's Christmas Carol took!

December 14th - John Denver and the Muppets Rocky Mountain Holiday Wait a minute. The title means "holiday" in the British sense, as in a vacation! It turns out that I checked this one out thinking that it was the other John Denver and the Muppets Holiday special.

December 15th - The Little Drummer Boy [Rankin-Bass]
December 16th - Pluto's Christmas Tree

December 16th - Rifftrax Live Christmas Shortstravaganza
December 17th - Muppet Christmas Carol
December 18th - Whose Line is it Anyway? UK Christmas special
December 18th - The Small One
The ending to this one would be more heart-warming and special if it wasn't so darn predictable. So let's see, a boy needs to find a new home for his donkey. I notice it takes place in an Arab setting, around a couple thousand years ago - gee I wonder where they're going with this?

December 19th - Muppets Letters to Santa This year, assuming you got any paper cards or letters, you may have noticed the Kermit the Frog postmark in the corner. Apparently the U.S. Postal Service did that to promote this special, and in exchange, the special has a musical number about how great the U.S. Postal Service is. Yyyyeah. Embarrassing plugging aside, the special tries to be heartwarming and sentimental like previous Henson specials, but didn't really do anything for me. What I did like was the scene in which Beaker shows off a new Muppet Labs invention that grants instaneous wishes, and does so by making a busty lady appear out of nowhere. You go, Beaker! You horndog you.

December 20th - The Year Without a Santa Claus

December 20th - The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause

December 21st - Sonic Christmas Blast

December 23rd - Mr. Monk and the Secret Santa, Mr. Monk and the Miracle

December 25th - Mythbusters Holiday specials More non-fiction goodness! Can a falling frozen turkey kill a small dog? Can the turkey be cooked on a radar dish? Which melts more quickly: a clothed snowman or a naked one? I would tell you the answers to these, but as with any episode I think it's more fun to watch how the question is answered than to just get the answer.

December 25th - A Charlie Brown Christmas

WIP -Works in Progress

I am pretty terrible about finishing things. Not because I am bad at finishing, but because I'm good at starting. I think of an idea while in the middle of another project and I just have to start right away for fear that I might forget my awesome new idea!

Kevin is just the opposite. He won't even THINK about starting a new project until the old one is finished.

And so because I neglect this poor little blog, I suggest to myself the following: Saturday will be Works in Progress day. (Edit: So much for that... I can't keep a schedule anyway :P) A day to show off what isn't yet finished and as the weeks add up it will be a list of yet to be completed projects to gently remind myself what needs to be done.

BEHOLD:
Knitted Chainmail Inlay (in progress)
I was fascinated by chainmail inlay the first time I saw it, and immediately wanted to make something myself. I don't care for working with metal and I certainly don't have the tools. I love yarn and I can make rings out of yarn, so that's what I decided to use.

So far I'm thrilled with the results. I think the pattern is coming through clearly (and I hope you agree), and I'm having fun doing it.

Anyone who knows chainmail techniques will recognize this as a traditional European 4 in 1 speed knitting. Does anyone else find it incredibly appropriate that making maille is called knitting?

Maybe I should pick a day for finished projects too.

hmmm.

Maybe I should also remember to sign Amanda in rather than using Kevin's name. My bad.

The Bob and Larry Effect

First I should admit that this has nothing to do with craftiness; it's just something that's been on my mind for a while and Blogger seemed to be the best place to vent it.

I'm sure I'm not the only person to notice that in movies, televisions, and pretty much everywhere else (including real life), what I will call The Bob and Larry Effect turns up. It describes a pairing of people or fictional characters who are drastically different in physical appearance - one being tall and skinny and the other much shorter and a bit...well, let's say "not skinny." I personally call this The Bob and Larry Effect because I think the two main characters from the Veggie Tales series offer the most striking example:



Obviously they're not the original skinny-guy-and-shorter-stouter-guy combo, but I think it's perfect to use a cucumber next to a tomato when comparing any other pairing with a similar physical ratio. And while I bet the Veggie Tales intentionally chose those vegetables so as to give the buddies dynamically different appearances, they certainly weren't the first to have this idea.




Jim Henson and the other Muppet-makers seemed to be quite fond of the tall-skinny/short-round concept.




But of course even long before then, there were well-known human Bob-and-Larry-type pairs. An interesting case is with the characters of Sherlock Holmes and John Watson. The original books don't suggest that Watson is any shorter or rounder than Holmes, and older drawings and live-action portrayals seem to reflect this. But the more recent and more cartoony depictions tend to shorten and fatten Watson. Could Disney be to blame for this?


Feel free to uncover any clues that would prove this wrong. Incidentally, there has been a Veggie Tales video with Larry playing the part of "Sheerluck Holmes" and Bob as...well, "Watson."

Now, how about the non-fictional partners?

(*)

For either pairing, I wonder: Were they drawn to each other because of their outward differences? Did an outside force guide them together to create the aesthetically quirky combination? Were they just more entertaining and/or memorable than other golden-age comedy couples because of their size-based unevenness? Would the Bob-and-Larry-essque real-life double acts of the future be successful for any of these same reasons, or even because they would be unconsciously inspired by Laurel and Hardy and/or Abbott/Costello? Or am I just overthinking this, and that it's just a coincidence that this phenemon happens to show up once in a while? I'd like to hear what you think.










Do you have a favorite Tomato-and-Cucumber couple?





*Okay, so even if Oliver Hardy isn't shorter than Stan Laurel, their faces alone seem to follow the Bob and Larry Effect.

Peanut Butter Balls

I loved it back in the late eighties and early nineties when kids shows would occasionally have "very special shows" to teach kids about nutrition, exercise, school subjects, etc.

I happened to come across a cooking for kids episode recently and decided I ought to try making one of the easy kid-friendly recipes. I brought the treats into work and I have never had to write down a recipe so many times in such a short span of time. I repeat it once more thusly:

Peanut Butter Balls
1 cup granola (or granola cereal)
1 cup instant non-fat dry milk powder (Yes they really still sell it, check the baking aisle on a lower shelf.
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup brown sugar

Mix these four ingredients thoroughly (best utensil? clean hands) before adding...

2 cups peanut butter (if you use crunchy you might need a little extra)

Mix this in until the whole batch sticks together in one big blob. Using either your hands (beware it's very sticky!) or a pair of spoons, roll the mixture into approximately one inch balls. Roll each of the balls in a tasty coating. Try some of the following or use anything you might want to try:

Sesame seeds
Toasted coconut
Extra granola
Crushed nuts of any sort
Banana chips crushed up
Pretzel bits
Coat in chocolate

Chill for about 4 hours before serving for best texture and store in the fridge. They'll keep for about 2 weeks, but they're sure to be gone LONG before that.

Busy? Or just a bum.

Maybe I'm not cut out for this blogging thing. I always seem to have something to say, but I never remember to put it into text.

Today I was finally able to give blood again. My iron was high enough (and far higher than normal which for me is a good thing. I was interested to learn about this new program called Red Cross Racing. The Red Cross has always been rather generous to its donors in the past and it seems to me that they just keep giving and giving. I'm happy to donate whether there is reward in it or not, but it is kind of fun to have a little program that keeps track of your appearances.

I hope to earn enough points by January 2010 to get the cooler that you sit upon. It will match the duffel bag, 7 shirts, and lunch pail. Sometimes I try to turn them down, but those RC workers are insistent.

If you're able, and you're not needle squeamish, please donate!