Tucker Lick Fest - the video

...and not THE BEST video of Tucker's Lick Fest in the sun because the show got crashed by the other two. Who knew the kittens would want to be on video so bad!? Anyhow - here's me catching Tucker doing his thing in the sun (and you have to realize he was doing it for awhile before I got the camera!) Flippity flop, back and forth!

SNOW DAY - follow up

No no, we're not having another snow day... I just wanted to show the (poor quality) video I got on my cell phone once we found out classes were cancelled Feb 13th... Julie, who works near me, wasn't in the mood to teach her class that evening - and the worsening blizzard conditions, PLUS finding out other schools were closing, was just making it worse.

And then we got the announcement - afternoon and evening classes were cancelled! Here's just a brief sample of what the rest of the afternoon was like...I'm sure you can imagine the rest!

Secret Lovers

Simon and Moxie are often caught doing this (so you'd think I could get a better video!). What can I say - the lights were down low, and they were loving some time with each other...

More on that JLA movie...

"Last week's announcement that Warner Bros. was developing a movie version of the classic superhero group the Justice League of America, entitled "Justice League," was a dream many geeks never thought would happen. Even more exciting was that Variety reported the movie wouldn't just include Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman but also possibly longtime JLA members The Flash, Aquaman, Green Lantern and Martian Manhunter." (more)

While I realize the article doesn't really reveal anything I hadn't already read elsewhere, it sums it up nicely and has some fun with speculation. And even though I'm not holding my breath on this movie ever happening....just the excitement about it did make me pee my pants a little. (Ok, not really...but you get the idea...)

Binkly

What's taking up so much of my time these days? World of Warcraft (and more than likely, you know someone who's just as sucked into it as I am!)

Only problem is - *I* don't know anyone who's into it. :( No one in person that is - just a few people I might chat with very briefly online that I meet through the game, but certainly nothing long-lasting...

So I roam the lands of Azeroth by myself, rarely teaming up with anyone else...slowly leveling a character until I get bored and want to try another race or class. Right now I'm Binkly, the Tauren Druid. Here I am flexing (actually I was dancing at the time):


And here I am on Mt Dreadmist....terribly thick atmosphere...makes me choke just looking at it!


And finally - one of the ways I get around the lands of WoW are on one of these mounts that I pay to ride. It's going to be another 26 looooong levels before I can get a mount of my own - and more than likely I'll get bored before then.

The topmost picture shows me in some more resistant armor/clothing I just acquired off some bad guys I killed, only it's basically a leather harness and a loincloth (I think they're magical!). Gee, anyone want to comment on me wearing that kinda gear!? LOL!!!

BOOM! + BSG!

First off, we just finished watching tonite's Heroes, and WOOOOOOW that was a good one! I was just telling Brett how it seems like, with Heroes, they manage to pack more than one hour's worth of show in just an hour's worth of time!

Tonight we got a new connection - now Hiro's dad is connected with Mr. Bennett!? He's the one who handed off Claire!? AND the invisible guy was actually Mr. Bennett's partner!? Who's the newly introduced guy that Mr. Bennett works for? Brett was suspecting that was Linderman, whereas I figured it's someone new. Next week's preview looks like I'm right on this one!

Speaking of which - I'm trying to remember - is there actually any connection between Linderman and those with powers?? I know he's got the whole mafia-type stuff going on, the art dealings, casinos, etc - but I don't recall him having any direction relations with the super power stuff... Maybe that'll happen still, OR maybe he'll be an opposing force!?

Also from the previews - Simone's got a power!? And it seems like it could be like Claire's healing ability!? I wonder if it'll be a twist on the ability, or if they're going to be an exact match (hopefully it'll be different).

We really loved Claire's regeneration from getting semi-nuked....great special effects! And somehow, even after all that, her clothes didn't get blown off her? Classy girl! LOL She's doing a real good job of dealing with pain - does she actually feel all the pain of whatever's happening to her? Oh, and spitting up the bullet? Fun!

Loved the whole hostage situation - it was handled interestingly, with Matt siding with HRG, and it seemed like it'd all be ok for Matt.... Instead HRG's turned him in!? :(

Brett figures HRG's new memory wipe AND never having had Claire to soften him up just might make him out to be a real evil bastard...that could be real interesting!

Glad the nuclear guy's not gone.

Will be interesting to see what happens with Claire and the Haitian on the run. Does this mean we won't see anymore of Zack now that Claire's got to disappear?

Wow - so many answers, so many connections and yet so many new connections!


And now a bit of Battlestar Galactica....just to see if anyone reading this is also watching BSG (or BG as Rick and Carolyn more correctly refer to it). Wow - each time they start off with an episode that I think might not be AS good as usual, usually because it looks to be a little too political, or a little too relationship-oriented, they still go and wow us!

This week we got to see President Rosalyn come off as her usual hard-assed self, be a real bitch to someone, and by the end of the episode she's come out being a great person! We honestly didn't see her getting to a point where she was going to sit with Chief and listen to his points, head him off on some of the needs of the colony, and even propose that they DO need a workers' union!

I need to do a little IMDBing this week - both of the kids they introduced this episode (neither of which I figure we'll see again anytime soon) looked familar. The goofy kid who was sabotaging the refinery, and the kid who worked on a farm for a summer to put himself through college - I know we've seen 'em somewhere - but where!? And we also recognize the new lady on Chief's deck crew - took us a little bit of sitting, staring and discussing - but she was the head honcho of the government agents on 4400... Wonder if we'll see her again. (Wonder if we'll see The 4400 again!?) (Yup, looks like it's returning this summer...wonder if we'll still be interested...?!)

Oh well, as great as this episode was, and last week's trapped-in-a-leaking-airdock episode, and the week before with the spreading sickness and the killer doctor, I DO look forward to some more discovery- and heavy-scifi- episodes!!!

Busy baking weekend

Check out what I made today!

The first two are Old Mill Sampler bread from a book Julie loaned me this week. The recipe included rye flour, whole wheat flour, all purpose flour, corn meal and honey, and then I added millet (first time using it) and flax seed, plus dusted the tops with wheat germ. GREAT bread!

And then I made two more batches of the yogurt French bread - one as a round loaf, and the other split into two traditional French loaf shapes. Well, "traditional" if "misshappen" is a synonym... Ok, so my first attempts in aaages at making French bread loaves, AND the first time I've used my new loaf pans....and I didn't realize that my dough was going to expand out and over the ends of the pan. OOPS!

Ok, how dorky-proud do I look here!? LOL

As much as I'd like, I'm not holding my breath on this one!

Comics Continuum by Rob Allstetter: Friday, February 23, 2007: "JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA MOVIE
Probably the reason a proposed Justice League television series didn't spin off of Smallville, a Justice League of America movie is being developed by Warner Bros.
According to Variety, Kiernan and Michele Mulroney have been tapped to write a script for the film.
'The Justice League of America has been a perennial favorite for generations of fans, and we believe their appeal to film audiences will be as strong and diverse as the characters themselves,' Warner Bros. president of production Jeff Robinov said in announcing the hiring of the Mulroneys.
No word yet on which characters will be involved. "

Heroes Tonite!

Wow - now THAT was a great episode!! All kinds of good stuff, new characters, revelations, confessions, breaking of fellowships, and a great cliffhanger ending! I won't mention any details until the rest of you get caught up - report in with your thoughts and excitement!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE!!!!

Rush on over to "Tea-&-Cake or Death!" and wish Dave a super Happy Birthday! Things just didn't work out with the gang this week, and so there was no birthday get together for Dave (it seems even he opted out of doing something Friday nite!)...so hopefully we'll make up for it this coming weekend!?

Apologies to Smallville - And then off on a tangent!

I wasn't looking forward to this past week's episode of Smallville - every year I get sort of burned out or tired of the show by mid-season. There was even a year where I just never bothered to watch the midway part, coming back for the end of the season. I felt like I was starting to get that vibe again this season, after the mega-climactic "Justice" episode, all the Oliver Queen/Green Arrow stuff having wrapped up, and the Lana/Lex romance just seeming too unrealistic.

But each week (well, most weeks) it continues to impress. I really wasn't excited about the "meteor freak vision" episode scheduled for this past week - where a new character, Tobias, who was blinded during the previous meteor storm, but gained the ability to see those who were "meteor infected." It just seemed like yet another "freak of the week" episode (kind of like the one with Tori Spelling - didn't feel like it wrapped up quite right...maybe a sequel is in the works?)

But learning that maybe, just maybe, Chloe's got a meteor-induced ability? Realizing that Lana sees Clark pretty much for what he is - someone going around saving lives on a daily basis - and wanting to protect him? Oh, now this is some nice development!

The fine-tuning of Clark's heat vision was a nice touch - boy, I felt bad for Chloe, as that zap to the shoulder had to hurt like hell! Do you think it left much of a scar??? AND Chloe's all wigged-out by the idea she might be a meteor freak? I'm pretty certain they've had some on the series who didn't end up "dead or in Belle Reve" - riiiight? Impulse/Bart Allen? I know Vic Stone/Cyborg and Arthur Curry/Aquaman aren't meteor-induced, and Ollie doesn't have any powers...but I was thinking maybe Bart got his powers from the meteors (in the series - not because he's connected to the Speed Force as in the comics).

And I also realize she's creeped out because of her mom's history with mental institutions - a story that was already played out several seasons back. Speeeeeeeeeeeeeeaking of which - if you don't like any hint as to who might be showing up on the series in the near future - don't read below...

.....................

........you've had your chance...........

.....................

....here it comes!

Lynda Carter will be guest-starring on the series (I assume for just one episode?) as Chloe's mom!!! Now I thought Chloe's mom was supposed to be dead - I don't remember. But this'll be way cool!! I wonder if they'll get her to twirl at all? Or if she'll do something great, and they'll have to tell her she's a wonder-ful woman? Nyuk nyuk!

Wait....so Chloe's possibly got a power and is going to meet her mom!? And on Heroe's, Claire's got an ability and just met her mom!? LOL I know, that's stretching it - but is THIS!?!?

Do you watch Ugly Betty?
Do you watch Heroes?

On Heroes we got to watch as Hiro fell in love with Charlie - the cute little waitress at a diner in Texas. Charlie was played by Jayma Mays. Jayma Mays was just introduced on Ugly Betty this past week as Henry's girlfriend, Charlie! Ok, what's up with that - are they running out of names for characters out in Hollywood? LOL

And since we're on the topic of Ugly Betty - we recently met Daniel's best friend Becks. I was a little confused by this because I though maybe they were introducing David Beckham to the show - I'd seen pics of him before, and I'm sure some video clips, but nothing long-lasting. It seemed possible Daniel WOULD have Beckham (who I've heard called Beck's on more than one occasion) as a friend, but I guess this isn't the case. So what kinda name is "Becks" supposed to be!?!?

Hm. Ok, enough tv show babbling! Hope you guys had a great weekend! We met with the accountant for my freelance work yesterday, and she was sick sick sick - and now today I'm getting sick. What're the odds!?

And I honestly figured Jimmy would walk in on her and Clark at the very end and figure he was being scammed by them.

SNOW DAY BONUS!!!

In addition to getting the day off, it looks like we've also got more hot snow plow guys! Now I don't consider it stalking if they're right here in plain site, plowing our drive, the neighbor's drive, etc. I can't help but see them when they're pretty much "in the way" of my view. So why not pick up a camera too!? :)

These pics were with the digital zoom, and he was a yard away - so that's why they're not so clear (not to mention that "not wanting to look obvious" thing while taking the pics!) He looks like a hot, younger Scott Bakula (and who doesn't want Scott Bakula!?), but beefier in build - like a bit of a body builder/model? And the gray thermal shirt fits nicely!

Oh, in case you're wondering, it's not that I just stalked him from my office window. I was actually shoveling the snow drift out from under the garage door - it caved in when Brett left for work, so the garage door wouldn't go down all the way. I was removing all the snow when this guy came up to plow our drive. Very nice, very friendly, very hot. None of which is my fault!





Wonder if I should invite him in to get out of the cold!??!

SNOW DAY!!!!

The national weather forecast folks have made it official - we're experiencing a blizzard!! WOO HOO! And what else? SNOW DAY! Classes at the University are cancelled AND all "non-essential" personal were told they didn't have to come in. After the incredible blow to my ego with that "non-essential" part, I recovered quickly by reminding myself that, hey, IT'S A SNOW DAY!!! (And let's be honest, I kinda like being "non-essential!")

Here's some shots of the outdoors, and the cats contemplating the outdoors, as we sit in here getting only a touch of cabin fever. I think after a little more cleaning/cooking I'll spend the afternoon with some World of Warcraft! (Assuming Sharon and I can't do House Gourmet for lunch)

Oh, and HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Special Delivery!

Kitties in a box - COD please!

la la laaa la la laaa

WTF?!!?

Ok, I'm not going to ruin this one for you by telling you ANYTHING about it - well, other than I bet you catch yourself bopping along and humming the song afterwards!! VERY catchy and fun! LOL ;-)

Anna Nicole's baby's third father?

So now the baby daughter of Anna Nicole Smith has a THIRD guy claiming to be her father - Prince (yes, I said Prince) Frederic Von Anhalt who, did you know, is the husband of Zsa Zsa Gabor. Jeeeeeez....

He says he's had an affair with Anna Nicole.

A decade-long affair with her!

WTF!? This is just messed up. Everyone wants to be the baby's father - could it be there's some money in this!? Gee, I guess so!

Y'know, I forgot - *I* slept with Anna Nicole TOO!!

Man, I wonder what Zsa Zsa thinks about this?! Maybe she put him up to it just to get some more money?

Seriously though, I'm just glad the baby is too young to take any of this in right now. Hopefully they get all the legalities worked out (and all the other possible fathers kicked out) before that baby starts to be more aware of the world she's being brought up in!

On a more "oh, that's so Jeph" take - I gotta say Prince Frederic is actually a really good looking guy, for an older guy (and no, he's not in the age bracket I'm normally attracted to!). Peter - what say you? You like the old guys! Is it just me, or does this guy have some "hot" potential? He sure looks confident - even in the last get up you'll see below!

Oh Matt, no...

No no no Matt! I know everything's been crappy for you, but that doesn't mean you turn to the dark side and pocket the diamonds! I don't care if they ARE taken from bad guys by bad guys. You're the good guy, and you don't do something like that. What's your wife going to say when you come home with that. Things are good for you two, and you're finding you can do other things like security and fix-it work. NOT what you wanted, but you also didn't want to be a criminal. Next time you have to go for a profiling and you're asked "have you ever stolen anything," they're gonna know. They're gonna know!

Bad choice!

Mohinder is in big trouble now that he's got Sylar hanging with him. Did anyone else recognize the "break the molecular bonds of the household appliances" guy as the "she kicks high" guy from the X-Box commercial a few years back? Brett had the biggest crush on him then, but we both commented on how it doesn't look like he's been taking very good care of himself since then. That looked like it'd be a fun (but clearly destructive) power to have. And I'm wondering if Sylar intentionally takes on some personality traits of whoever he's killed, as if he can pull from them out of a collection (remember, he was all southern with Claire's mom), or if this is part of the power stealing and it's not necessarily something he can control.

Poor, poor Claire. Nothing's going right, her adopted mom's been brain-fritzed too many times, her adopted dad's an evil mastermind, her biological mom's trash, and her biological dad's a louse. I'm afraid to ask if it could get much worse!

Did you like how the scamming Vegas bitch called Hiro "Sulu" - right after last week!? LOL That was a very entertaining plot thread, but I'm feeling bad for the dynamic duo - Ando's got it bad for the ladies, and Hiro's just been busted.

Man, with this many characters, they should seriously give us two episodes every week! Hey, in comic books, when a title gets super popular, they spin-off off another! Action Comics, Superman, Man of Steel, The Adventures of Superman; Batman, Detective Comics, The Dark Knight; X-Men, Uncanny X-Men, Astonishing X-Men, X-Factor, Excalibur - you get the idea! GIVE US MORE HEROES!

And how about the catch phrase for next week? Someone Flies, Someone Dies! We both agreed that maybe they're starting to overdo the catch phrase thing - the "Save the cheerleader, save the world" one was GREAT! But then there was "Are you on the list" - and it felt like that would be the phrase for the second half of the season. But now we're going to get a new one every few weeks!? Whoa whoa whoa - don't ruin it!!

Til next Monday - let's hear what you guys think!

Gardenfork.tv

Want to learn how to make ginger ice cream?

Want to learn how to use a chainsaw without cutting off your leg?

How do you make cornbread?

Need grow lights for your vegetable seedlings?

How do you carve a turkey?

What about building a cold frame, making chicken vesuvio, changing your disk breaks, or what do to with garlic scapes (garlic whats?)?

Don't feel like reading a book to learn all of this, and don't have the time to track down just the right do-it-yourself shows on cable?

Check out gardenfork.tv - with cooking, gardening and other stuff. Gardenfork.tv is a video podcast, blog and more - for all sorts of fun and educational video clips, including Eric, his wife, and their cute yellow lab, Henry. I've watched at least a half dozen of the clips already and they're always entertaining. Sure, Eric doesn't always get it right the first time, but he's fulling willing to admit that - he's just your average guy like the rest of us, only with a bit more Jack-of-all-trades background... Go on, give it a try!

Ahhhh sunshine!

Sunshine is EVERYONE'S best friend!

It's a good day (or two!) for baking bread!

Brett's coworker, Rose, has been curious about some of the bread adventures I've been going through.

Leslie, our realtor, was drooling over the blueberry banana bread I gave her recently, and has heard stories about my attempts at baking bread, and we were meeting up with her Sunday for another full-on house viewing extravaganza to find our dream home.

We were meeting up with Brett's family for their first-ever foray into the exciting world of Indian food Saturday night.

We were running outta the last batches of bread I made for us...

So, gee, what to do!?

MAKE MORE BREAD!

Saturday I baked up a batch of the whole wheat Italian bread I made recently, only deciding to try sweetening it with a bit of honey, and adding some of the milled flaxseed we picked up. Rather than make one big loaf, I opted to split it, so we could give half to Brett's family, and try half for ourselves. It was good - but still kinda tough/chewy/dry - did I over bake? Is this just a trait of this recipe? I still didn't achieve the sweetness I was going for (imagine a sweet honey whole wheat sandwich bread you'd pick up at the store), so I'll continue the hunt for that recipe...


I baked those off Saturday afternoon so we could give one to Brett's folks, and also made up three sponges of the yogurt French bread... Boy, that stuff really ferments - could easily be called a sourdough!


Here's me just pulling the first loaf outta the oven, hoping it'll cool fast enough to take it to Leslie. (It did, she loved it, her Danish husband loved it - yay!)


After hooooours and miles of house hunting (still no dream home), I had to make and bake the other two loaves. I can't do more than one at once - not enough room on the baking stone. So I staggered them, and just had to remember to crank up the oven to 450 for awhile before each loaf went in, and then turn it down to 400 for the baking....


...which I forgot to do - hence the darker loaf that cooked in 2/3 the time (good thing I could smell it and checked the interior temp of the dough!)

How gay is that pose!?

I was most disappointed in the last/darker loaf, which we kept for ourselves, because I'm finally mastering cutting slashes into the dough and getting an attractive baked loaf, only this loaf cooked so hot and so fast that the exterior set before it got to rise and kind of "balloon out" along the cuts... I can handle the darker color on this one (you really can't taste it as "burned"), but was bummed about the less attractive loaf. Oh well - still cuts and eats the same! :)

Brett came home from work today saying Rose was drooling over the loaf all day - she had it tucked under her desk, and kept pulling it out to smell it. Hope she and Steve liked it!

Hm, what'll I bake next?

Like two ships passing in the night...

Well hellooooo there...


Kiss me you sexy bitch!


(Ok, the way this REALLY works? Tucker finds himself a spot to chill. One of the kittens decides he looks lonely and goes to visit him. Ninety-five percent of the time he get's all pouty and leaves...)

Daddy's little helper

Moxie checks out the digital graphics DVDs and clip art collection to see if maybe she can help me out on an upcoming project...

Look who's back!

Seems each year around this time this cheap little orchid I have starts to show off. I'm thinking I might not get as many blooms out of it this year (it seriously wants to be replanted!) - hopefully we'll find a new home soon that includes more window sills! In the meantime, it does it's best and puts on a great show... I just noticed today that there's a smaller stalk coming out of the main "branch" of blooms, so maybe I'll get more flowers than I initially expected!