I read The Hunger Games yesterday. Well, mostly. I think I read the first two or three chapters the night before.
You see, Allison and I had plans to see The Hunger Games movie over the weekend but the plans fell through. So we decided to use a LivingSocial deal for one of the local theaters to see the movie this week. The coupon was only good for Monday through Thursday and Allison worked at 6am every morning except Thursday. That meant that Wednesday was the night for the movie.
Allison had read the book a while ago and really liked it. I can't remember who she found out about it from but it came highly recommended. When we didn't see the movie over the weekend she guessed that I could read the book before we went to see the movie. I liked the book okay. I didn't find it quite as enjoyable as most other people I've heard talk about it.
For one thing it is written in the first person which I don't like quite as much as the third person with Point-of-View, which seems to be the main perspective used in modern fantasy and sci-fi, which of course is my main reading material. I think that first person is probably more difficult to write in and I'm not sure that Suzanne Collins was really up to it. I don't know if she had used it in previous novels but I don't know about it here. I think I understand why she did it. None of the other characters would have been as interesting as POV characters as the main character, Katniss. And getting the inner thoughts of Katniss is obviously easiest this way. A lot of the novel is spent with Katniss alone trying to stay alive with nothing but her thoughts. But still, I am not sure it was really well done.
The story itself is interesting enough but being the person I am I of course would have wished for more background of the world itself. And here is where the first person comes in, we can only know as much or see as much as Katniss knows or sees. We only get as much character development in the other characters as much as they develop in Katniss' eyes. She had a couple good relationships with other characters, but she wasn't the most likable character herself.
As for the movie, it necessarily compressed a lot and changed a bunch. As with most adaptations you are left wondering why they made which decisions, especially considering that the author herself wrote the screenplay. I enjoyed the movie but the other characters were even less developed than in the book. The actress who played Katniss was good and she made Katniss more likable than in the book. I don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing.
I enjoyed the movie, though it won't be making a top 10 list or anything. I'm glad I saw it and enjoyed a date out with my wife.
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Fantastic dinner at Rinata
If you don't remember my disappointment from our Valentine's dinner, you should go back and read it. It was an overly expensive, adequately tasting, poorly served meal. We partly blame ourselves for going out on Valentine's Day, but it really was quite bad.
A couple weeks ago we had lunch at the beautiful El Tovar Hotel in the Grand Canyon Village. Excellent food, surpassing service, and quite reasonable prices.
Then this Wednesday night we went to dinner at Rinata in Uptown, Minneapolis. It is owned by the same guy as another restaurant we enjoy, Al Vento, in south Minneapolis.
Allison found out about a wine dinner they were having on Wednesday. It was four courses each with a paired wine including Swordfish as the main entree. It sounded very good and was priced at a very reasonable $40 per person so we got reservations.
A day before the dinner Allison got a call from the restaurant that they had had a number of cancellations and had fallen under the minimum number for the wine rep to show up. So while they were still going to do the four courses with paired wines they were changing the menu a little bit and wanted to make sure we still wanted to go. Allison talked to them and the menu still sounded good but they had traded out the swordfish for pork tenderloin. A disappointment to be sure, but not enough to scare us away.
The evening started out interestingly as I took a bus from downtown to just meet Allison there. Turns out that while Nicollet and Hennepin are only a block away from each other for most of downtown, I assure you, they are in very different places in Uptown. So I was wandering around the corner of Nicollet and 25th wondering where this restaurant was hiding and wondering where my wife was. Allison was parking in the parking lot at the corner of Hennepin and 25th and wondering what her husband meant when he texted that he was standing at the corner of Nicollet and 25th. After finally realizing my mistake I hoofed it the mile to the correct location and dinner was able to start!
First of all, I just want to get this out of the way. If you decide to give Rinata a try (and you should) you should absolutely ask if you can be put into Ben's section. Ben was our waiter for the night and I really can't remember a better server in all my life. We weren't his only table but whenever we needed anything he was there before we had to ask. We had our food as soon as we would have wanted it. Our glasses (of wine or water) never fully emptied out. He explained each dish fully so we knew what deliciousness we were about to enjoy.
Before the first course even arrived we had our first glass of wine. We were served a Prosecco that was quite good. Both Allison and I enjoy red wine more than white but we both enjoyed this. Right before the salad came out Ben stopped by to refill our glasses. We were both pleasantly surprised by this as we had only been sipping on our wine. The last wine dinner we attended was pretty strict with only one glass per course. Clearly this was going to be a fun night.
Before our first course was brought out we were served some bread and a olive tapenade in olive oil. A note about the bread: I loved it. It is the same (or at least very similar) focaccia as they serve at al Vento. It has the perfect density and a dusting of Parmesan cheese (maybe?) baked into the crust and a garlicky taste. Dipped in the olive oil and with the tapenade it was a delictable start to the dinner. And another point to our server, Ben. He quickly picked up on the fact that I loved the bread and kept us supplied with fresh bread and tapenade for the entire dinner.
Very soon our first course was brought out. It was a micro-greens salad on a base of sliced beet with chopped almonds and julienned parsnips and celery root. Over all of it was a Processo Parmesan dressing (using the same wine we were drinking).
I'm don't normally enjoy beets very much but this was a very tasty salad. In the last year or two I have discovered that I enjoy parsnips and celery root (they are very similar) so that was definitely a strong addition to this salad and the texture of the salad was very good. The dressing was good but the similarity to the wine was too subtle for me to really "get" the pairing.
After our salad was cleared away we were poured a glass of Sauvignon Blanc that was paired with our second course. Another white that we wouldn't normally drink but was very dry and very good. We were both excited about this course: mussels steamed in the Sauvignon Blanc with housemade fettuccine tossed with pepper flake, garlic, and a touch of butter.
This dish was outstanding. Allison is much more familiar with mussels than I am and she said they were prepared very well. I definitely enjoyed them. The pepper flake gave just the right amount of heat that I could still feel after the dish was done. The wine matched up excellently with each bite. The coolness and dryness of the wine was a nice counterpoint to the heat in the pasta. The noodles themselves were delicious if a little thinner than I would prefer. My favorite housemade fetuccine remains Vescio's. The broth left over after everything was eaten was a nice bonus that was delicious when wiped up with some fresh bread.
Once again, soon after our completely cleaned bowls were cleared away a new glass of wine was poured. This time is was a red to go with the main entree. This was by far our favorite wine of the night, a Banfi Centine Toscana. It was so good that after we had finished our third course I asked to see the label so we could look for it in stores and instead of just letting me take a look Ben said "Of course you can see, here let me just leave the bottle with you." Marvelous!
As I mentioned before the original third course was swordfish which I don't think I've had before and was definitely looking forward to tasting. Instead we got a roasted pork tenderloin over a bed of polenta with sauted spinach and a roasted red bell pepper sauce. He had a particular word for the type of sauce but I cannot remember what it was.
The polenta and spinach were both prepared excellently and were delicious. The tenderloin itself was very good but not good enough to make me forget about the swordfish. It was seasoned well but not as succulent as I would have wished. The sauce over it all was extremely delicious and something I'd like to have again. A good dish but not quite as good as the previous one. The wine went very well and again was our favorite of the evening.
The final course was a dessert of housemade limoncello sorbet with their housemade limoncello.
Allison found the sorbet a little too tart and by this point in the evening the limoncello was a little too strong. I found both an excellent ending to the evening. The limoncello was definitely strong, but not strong enough for me to refuse a second glass when offered. The sorbet was smooth and refreshing and I felt the tartness was just right.
If you can't tell, we had a marvelous time. We were there for a little over two hours but the time flew by. We were never waiting for anything and never wanted for anything. The food was all more than satisfying and delicious. And the price was definitely worth the experience. I can't recommend Rinata highly enough. And remember, ask for Ben, he will take care of you.
A couple weeks ago we had lunch at the beautiful El Tovar Hotel in the Grand Canyon Village. Excellent food, surpassing service, and quite reasonable prices.
Then this Wednesday night we went to dinner at Rinata in Uptown, Minneapolis. It is owned by the same guy as another restaurant we enjoy, Al Vento, in south Minneapolis.
Allison found out about a wine dinner they were having on Wednesday. It was four courses each with a paired wine including Swordfish as the main entree. It sounded very good and was priced at a very reasonable $40 per person so we got reservations.
A day before the dinner Allison got a call from the restaurant that they had had a number of cancellations and had fallen under the minimum number for the wine rep to show up. So while they were still going to do the four courses with paired wines they were changing the menu a little bit and wanted to make sure we still wanted to go. Allison talked to them and the menu still sounded good but they had traded out the swordfish for pork tenderloin. A disappointment to be sure, but not enough to scare us away.
The evening started out interestingly as I took a bus from downtown to just meet Allison there. Turns out that while Nicollet and Hennepin are only a block away from each other for most of downtown, I assure you, they are in very different places in Uptown. So I was wandering around the corner of Nicollet and 25th wondering where this restaurant was hiding and wondering where my wife was. Allison was parking in the parking lot at the corner of Hennepin and 25th and wondering what her husband meant when he texted that he was standing at the corner of Nicollet and 25th. After finally realizing my mistake I hoofed it the mile to the correct location and dinner was able to start!
First of all, I just want to get this out of the way. If you decide to give Rinata a try (and you should) you should absolutely ask if you can be put into Ben's section. Ben was our waiter for the night and I really can't remember a better server in all my life. We weren't his only table but whenever we needed anything he was there before we had to ask. We had our food as soon as we would have wanted it. Our glasses (of wine or water) never fully emptied out. He explained each dish fully so we knew what deliciousness we were about to enjoy.
Before the first course even arrived we had our first glass of wine. We were served a Prosecco that was quite good. Both Allison and I enjoy red wine more than white but we both enjoyed this. Right before the salad came out Ben stopped by to refill our glasses. We were both pleasantly surprised by this as we had only been sipping on our wine. The last wine dinner we attended was pretty strict with only one glass per course. Clearly this was going to be a fun night.
Before our first course was brought out we were served some bread and a olive tapenade in olive oil. A note about the bread: I loved it. It is the same (or at least very similar) focaccia as they serve at al Vento. It has the perfect density and a dusting of Parmesan cheese (maybe?) baked into the crust and a garlicky taste. Dipped in the olive oil and with the tapenade it was a delictable start to the dinner. And another point to our server, Ben. He quickly picked up on the fact that I loved the bread and kept us supplied with fresh bread and tapenade for the entire dinner.
Very soon our first course was brought out. It was a micro-greens salad on a base of sliced beet with chopped almonds and julienned parsnips and celery root. Over all of it was a Processo Parmesan dressing (using the same wine we were drinking).
I'm don't normally enjoy beets very much but this was a very tasty salad. In the last year or two I have discovered that I enjoy parsnips and celery root (they are very similar) so that was definitely a strong addition to this salad and the texture of the salad was very good. The dressing was good but the similarity to the wine was too subtle for me to really "get" the pairing.
After our salad was cleared away we were poured a glass of Sauvignon Blanc that was paired with our second course. Another white that we wouldn't normally drink but was very dry and very good. We were both excited about this course: mussels steamed in the Sauvignon Blanc with housemade fettuccine tossed with pepper flake, garlic, and a touch of butter.
This dish was outstanding. Allison is much more familiar with mussels than I am and she said they were prepared very well. I definitely enjoyed them. The pepper flake gave just the right amount of heat that I could still feel after the dish was done. The wine matched up excellently with each bite. The coolness and dryness of the wine was a nice counterpoint to the heat in the pasta. The noodles themselves were delicious if a little thinner than I would prefer. My favorite housemade fetuccine remains Vescio's. The broth left over after everything was eaten was a nice bonus that was delicious when wiped up with some fresh bread.
Once again, soon after our completely cleaned bowls were cleared away a new glass of wine was poured. This time is was a red to go with the main entree. This was by far our favorite wine of the night, a Banfi Centine Toscana. It was so good that after we had finished our third course I asked to see the label so we could look for it in stores and instead of just letting me take a look Ben said "Of course you can see, here let me just leave the bottle with you." Marvelous!
As I mentioned before the original third course was swordfish which I don't think I've had before and was definitely looking forward to tasting. Instead we got a roasted pork tenderloin over a bed of polenta with sauted spinach and a roasted red bell pepper sauce. He had a particular word for the type of sauce but I cannot remember what it was.
The polenta and spinach were both prepared excellently and were delicious. The tenderloin itself was very good but not good enough to make me forget about the swordfish. It was seasoned well but not as succulent as I would have wished. The sauce over it all was extremely delicious and something I'd like to have again. A good dish but not quite as good as the previous one. The wine went very well and again was our favorite of the evening.
The final course was a dessert of housemade limoncello sorbet with their housemade limoncello.
Allison found the sorbet a little too tart and by this point in the evening the limoncello was a little too strong. I found both an excellent ending to the evening. The limoncello was definitely strong, but not strong enough for me to refuse a second glass when offered. The sorbet was smooth and refreshing and I felt the tartness was just right.
If you can't tell, we had a marvelous time. We were there for a little over two hours but the time flew by. We were never waiting for anything and never wanted for anything. The food was all more than satisfying and delicious. And the price was definitely worth the experience. I can't recommend Rinata highly enough. And remember, ask for Ben, he will take care of you.
Holland Lake
Saturday, March 24, 2012
5 Hours of German Politics
Last night (includes picture) I had four people over for an epic evening of board gaming. We scheduled the time especially for one game in particular: Die Macher. It was designed in 1986 and is one of the classic euro- or German-style board games. The theme may not grab most people though: German politics. Essentially you are in control of a German political party spending money and influencing people as you try to win 7 different state elections while growing your national party base.
It is a very procedural game where you follow a set number of steps through 6 rounds (the 7th election happens immediately after the 6th one without the intermediate steps). Even though you are doing the same steps over and over the decisions you are making are completely different each time. And it doesn't get easier as the game goes on. In fact only 2 of the 5 players scored any points from the last election.
I had only played once before about a year and a half ago and the rest of the players hadn't ever played the game before so it was really a learning game for all of us. We started the game at 7:30 or so. I think the first round took us 1.5-2 hours. The second round probably took another hour. Then the final 4 rounds took another ~2 hours until we finished up at 12:20am. We all picked up what we were supposed to be doing pretty quickly after those first two rounds. Of course, that didn't mean we understood all the ramifications of our decisions, but at least we knew how.
The game is scored such that you really don't know who is going to win until the final scoring is tabulated. You get points for each of the 7 elections. You get bonus points for holding media control in an election you win. You get bonus points for your party platform matching the national public opinions. And finally you get points for the size of your national party base. All of those except the election totals are able to change right up until the final election so it is hard to really see who is winning.
Everyone said they enjoyed the game even though no one really knew what they were doing. I certainly enjoyed it as well. In fact, I enjoyed it more than when I played it over a year ago. My brain didn't quite hurt as much as last time. And lest you think my enjoyment came from the result know this: I did not win. In fact, like most of the games I played at Con of the North, I came in dead last. Even though I try to win every game it is not really important to me who wins. I just want to enjoy myself and hope that everyone else enjoys the experience as well.
Now I'm looking forward to getting this big gameto the table again and I know four other people who would be interested in playing!
It is a very procedural game where you follow a set number of steps through 6 rounds (the 7th election happens immediately after the 6th one without the intermediate steps). Even though you are doing the same steps over and over the decisions you are making are completely different each time. And it doesn't get easier as the game goes on. In fact only 2 of the 5 players scored any points from the last election.
I had only played once before about a year and a half ago and the rest of the players hadn't ever played the game before so it was really a learning game for all of us. We started the game at 7:30 or so. I think the first round took us 1.5-2 hours. The second round probably took another hour. Then the final 4 rounds took another ~2 hours until we finished up at 12:20am. We all picked up what we were supposed to be doing pretty quickly after those first two rounds. Of course, that didn't mean we understood all the ramifications of our decisions, but at least we knew how.
The game is scored such that you really don't know who is going to win until the final scoring is tabulated. You get points for each of the 7 elections. You get bonus points for holding media control in an election you win. You get bonus points for your party platform matching the national public opinions. And finally you get points for the size of your national party base. All of those except the election totals are able to change right up until the final election so it is hard to really see who is winning.
Everyone said they enjoyed the game even though no one really knew what they were doing. I certainly enjoyed it as well. In fact, I enjoyed it more than when I played it over a year ago. My brain didn't quite hurt as much as last time. And lest you think my enjoyment came from the result know this: I did not win. In fact, like most of the games I played at Con of the North, I came in dead last. Even though I try to win every game it is not really important to me who wins. I just want to enjoy myself and hope that everyone else enjoys the experience as well.
Now I'm looking forward to getting this big gameto the table again and I know four other people who would be interested in playing!
Friday, March 23, 2012
DIE MACHER!
Edit: By the way, the name of the game is in fact "Die Macher" and is German for "the makers" or "the fixers", "die" is pronounced "dee" and the "ch" in "macher" is pronounced like the "ch" in "Loch Ness."
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Lunch at El Tovar
One of the many highlights of our trip to the Grand Canyon was lunch with Allison's parents at the El Tovar Hotel in the Grand Canyon Village. The dining room was beautiful and built like a log cabin with a fireplace on each end.
Even though there was no dress code (we were in the middle of a National Park) the servers were all dressed in tuxes and bowties. Our server took very good care of us and made a couple of excellent suggestions. He didn't specifically say any thing about a starter but I couldn't resist ordering the French Onion Soup.
It was marvelous. A very crispy top and a deliciously cheesy and oniony broth. I enjoyed every bite.
For the main course Allison and her dad ordered the Navajo taco. Instead of a tortilla it was made on a housemade frybread and made with a vegetarian chili. I had a bite and it was probably the best taco I've ever tasted. Allison's mom and I both ordered the Prickly Pear Natural Chicken. I also had a local beer along with my meal, which you can see in the background of this picture. It was a Grand Canyon Pilsner. Quite good. Allison's dad ordered the Grand Canyon Starry Night Stout that had a great roasted flavor to it.
It was organic chicken marinated in a prickly pear sauce and covered with a jalapeno jack cheese. The chicken was perfectly done and the marinade was very tasty.
And then came dessert...
Mmm, housemade chocolate chip cookie cheesecake! Not only was there a big cookie and piece of dough on top of the cheesecake but the cheesecake itself was cookie dough flavored with chocolate chips inside. Drizzled over the top was chocolate and caramel sauce with a chocolate "mint leaf" sticking out of the back. Allison ordered the vanilla bean creme brulee. It was exquisite. Even though I am still glad I ordered the cheesecake I will admit the creme brulee was better. Thankfully Allison couldn't quite finish her's and I got to eat a good portion of it.
Do you remember our Valentine's dinner? I sure do. The service was subpar, the food was okay, and the price was outrageous. How about lunch at El Tovar? Supurb service by a very friendly gentleman. The food was excellent and their entrees were priced between $10 and $15. What a deal! I highly recommend everyone going to see the Grand Canyon some time in their life and when you're there have lunch at El Tovar.
Even though there was no dress code (we were in the middle of a National Park) the servers were all dressed in tuxes and bowties. Our server took very good care of us and made a couple of excellent suggestions. He didn't specifically say any thing about a starter but I couldn't resist ordering the French Onion Soup.
It was marvelous. A very crispy top and a deliciously cheesy and oniony broth. I enjoyed every bite.
For the main course Allison and her dad ordered the Navajo taco. Instead of a tortilla it was made on a housemade frybread and made with a vegetarian chili. I had a bite and it was probably the best taco I've ever tasted. Allison's mom and I both ordered the Prickly Pear Natural Chicken. I also had a local beer along with my meal, which you can see in the background of this picture. It was a Grand Canyon Pilsner. Quite good. Allison's dad ordered the Grand Canyon Starry Night Stout that had a great roasted flavor to it.
It was organic chicken marinated in a prickly pear sauce and covered with a jalapeno jack cheese. The chicken was perfectly done and the marinade was very tasty.
And then came dessert...
Mmm, housemade chocolate chip cookie cheesecake! Not only was there a big cookie and piece of dough on top of the cheesecake but the cheesecake itself was cookie dough flavored with chocolate chips inside. Drizzled over the top was chocolate and caramel sauce with a chocolate "mint leaf" sticking out of the back. Allison ordered the vanilla bean creme brulee. It was exquisite. Even though I am still glad I ordered the cheesecake I will admit the creme brulee was better. Thankfully Allison couldn't quite finish her's and I got to eat a good portion of it.
Do you remember our Valentine's dinner? I sure do. The service was subpar, the food was okay, and the price was outrageous. How about lunch at El Tovar? Supurb service by a very friendly gentleman. The food was excellent and their entrees were priced between $10 and $15. What a deal! I highly recommend everyone going to see the Grand Canyon some time in their life and when you're there have lunch at El Tovar.
Sunday, March 18, 2012
One of those days
This is one of those blog posts that people who don't blog are referring to when they say things like "Why would anyone read a blog? Why do I care about some joe-schmoe's day?" This is a post chronicling a day in my life: yesterday, March 17th, 2012, St. Patrick's Day.
Do you ever have one of those days?
One of those days where everything you do is exactly what you wanted to do?
One of those days where besides all the fun you even did something productive?
One of those days where even the things outside your control (like the weather) go your way?
One of those days when you're enjoying what you're doing and then you all of a sudden remember one of the other awesome things you did earlier that you almost forgot about?
Well, I have. I had that day yesterday.
Though, I must admit, it didn't start off perfectly...
Now when I say that, I mean it was still a-okay and even expected. Just not perfect. (It should be very well known to anyone who knows me that I have and have had a pretty good life. Not much goes or has gone wrong.)
The first one awake was Boudreaux, our dog, which is typical on the weekends. I didn't want to get up with him but he was insistent. So I dragged myself out of bed, headed downstairs, fed the dog, let him out, let him back in, and then climbed back upstairs and into bed. After a little while Allison and I finally got up and made ourselves a nice simple breakfast of oatmeal with strawberries.
Then we got dressed and headed out to Old Cedar Avenue near Long Meadow Lake for a hike. Allison had had the brilliant idea that since we had so much fun hiking in Arizona maybe we should just keep hiking after getting back home? And you know what? There are lots of places to do that within or close to the Twin Cities. So the three of us went on a wonderful ~2 mile hike along the lake. There were numerous people out hiking and bird watching (some of the people had some serious scopes on tripods). Boudreaux got very excited when he saw some ducks in a pond and really enjoyed walking up and down a stream.
Something else there that was neat was the Old Cedar Avenue bridge. It is a two lane bridge that used to be the only way across the Minnesota River in our part of the southern suburbs. And it was what my dad took to work every morning from Burnsville to Golden Valley when I was growing up. It is right next to the new 6 lane Cedar Avenue bridge. Whenever I drive over the river and look at that rickety old bridge my mind reels at trying to imagine rush hour crossing the river.
After our hike we headed back home and had a delicious lunch of leftover andoule sausage jambalaya. I had made it the night before (from a box) and it was still quite tasty.
Next came the productive part of our day. Allison and I moved some of the furniture around downstairs so she could paint one of the walls. There are only a couple left and it looks much nicer than the stark white we had before.
While Allison was painting I headed outside with Boudreaux and got out the chainsaw. I cut down a few lower branches from some of the trees in our yard. I was trying to get rid of the ones that really hang down and make it difficult to mow the lawn. I dragged the cut branches back into the woods behind my house and while coming back from dropping off the last couple of branches five white-tailed deer ran by. Boudreaux had been watching me take the branches out of the yard and he was transfixed by the small herd. I then took some pesticide and diatomaceous earth (which is supposed to help with box-elder bugs) and sprayed and spread around the base of our house.
By the time I was done Allison had pulled out our plastic yard furniture bench and started reading her Kindle (she's in the middle of A Clash of Kings, in preparation for the upcoming season of A Game of Thrones on HBO). I headed inside to grab my own Kindle and grabbed us both a nice, cool, Leinies Sunset Wheat and then headed outside to join her.
We sat there for maybe an hour, maybe two. Just reading our books and sipping our beers. The last I had checked the mercury had reached 78 degrees, but it wouldn't surprise me it it hit about 80 while we were out there. And I tell you what, we had zero problems reading our Kindles in the bright sunlight. In fact, it was probably even easier than reading a real book because it isn't the bright white of a page made of paper.
The last time I talked about what I was reading I was soldiering through a fairly poorly written book. Since then I had read a bunch on the plane and also while enjoying myself in Arizona. I finished that book, Fight For the Abyss, the next book, Mechanicum, the following book, an anthology of short stories called Tales of Heresy, and am currently reading the 11th book in the Horus Heresy series, Fallen Angels. I've quite enjoyed everything since Fight For the Abyss.
Around five o'clock I headed upstairs and grabbed a couple of New York Strip steaks out of the frig in preparation for dinner. There was no way I was going to let this day go by without turning on the grill. When the grill was ready I used a little Famous Dave's Burger and Steak rub and threw those bad boys on the fire. The steaks were served with a simple arugula and tomato salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing and an excellent French wine that Allison had picked up a couple weeks ago. It has 50% Grenache and 50% Syrah. I can't describe to you what "notes" it had, or what it "hinted at", but I can tell you it complemented my medium-rare steak excellently. And if I do say so myself, the steaks were fantastic.
We cleared away the dishes and cleaned up after dinner and an odd notion came into my head. The beautiful sunny day harkened back to summer days of my youth and I wanted to something I hadn't done in quite some time. I asked Allison if she wanted to hit the Dairy Queen drive-in and just go on a little drive in the country. She surprised me by saying "Yeah, let's go." And the three of us got back in the car and took off.
We headed out to Rosemount and the Dairy Queen there. As expected the drive-in line was long and there were family's at every picnic table and all over the parking lot enjoying sundaes and cones and Blizzards and other treats. We got up to the window and I ordered a mini Oreo Blizzard for Allison and after a small internal debate I ordered a small Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Blizzard for myself. The debate was not over the flavor but the size (I've had a couple medium and even large Blizzards in my day) and by the time I had finished I was happy with my choice.
From Rosemount we headed for downtown Farmington. Neither of us had actually been to our neighbor town to the south. It was not quite what I was expecting, at least not where we drove through. Downtown Lakeville is a cute and quaint little area. "Downtown" Farmington, or at least the main commercial drag through the center of town was anything but cute. A couple of strip malls and a restaurant/gas station. I'm sure we missed other stuff and we'll just have to return again some day. By the way, Boudreaux really enjoyed the drive. His head was out the window nearly the entire time.
We got back after sunset and for our next activity Allison suggested we head down stairs and play a board game. You never have to ask me twice to engage in my favorite hobby so with newly filled wine glasses in hand we went downstairs.
Then the tough choice became which game to play. Allison was debating over whether to play her favorite game, Dominion, or try playing Stone Age again. I got Stone Age for Christmas and we had played it once so far and she opted to bring it out again. Allison won our first contest a few months ago, but I'm sorry to say that I beat her this time. It was another fun contest and I was glad we got to play it.
When we finished packing up the game I didn't even have the chance to ask "What do you want to do now?" when Allison asked "Do you want to watch Iron Man?" Ummm, yes.
I had seen Iron Man in the theater and Allison had not. I have never been a big comic book collector but I've always enjoyed the stories and the heroes. With the Avengers movie coming out in just a couple months I had planned to watch the related movies that I hadn't seen yet. I had seen Iron Man and Thor, but hadn't yet watched The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, or Captain America. When I got Hulk in the mail Allison expressed an interest in watching it with me. She enjoyed it and since I was getting Iron Man 2 next I asked her if she wanted me to get Iron Man first, which she did.
So we poured out the remainder of the wine, popped in Iron Man, and watched a great super hero action flick.
Phew! I think that's it. After the movie, on the way upstairs to bed, I was thinking about what a great day it had been and I suddenly remembered my Blizzard which I had nearly forgotten about. It was then that this blog post started forming.
So let's recap:
Up early with my wonderful dog, Boudreaux
Oatmeal and strawberries
Hike near the Minnesota river
Andoule sausage jambalaya
Chainsaw and branch cutting with a deer sighting
Sitting in the sun and the heat with my wife, my Kindle, and a beer
Steaks and wine for dinner
A cookie dough Blizzard and a drive through the country
A game of Stone Age with Allison with a glass of wine
Watched Iron Man with a glass of wine
Yep, not too shabby.
Do you ever have one of those days?
One of those days where everything you do is exactly what you wanted to do?
One of those days where besides all the fun you even did something productive?
One of those days where even the things outside your control (like the weather) go your way?
One of those days when you're enjoying what you're doing and then you all of a sudden remember one of the other awesome things you did earlier that you almost forgot about?
Well, I have. I had that day yesterday.
Though, I must admit, it didn't start off perfectly...
Now when I say that, I mean it was still a-okay and even expected. Just not perfect. (It should be very well known to anyone who knows me that I have and have had a pretty good life. Not much goes or has gone wrong.)
The first one awake was Boudreaux, our dog, which is typical on the weekends. I didn't want to get up with him but he was insistent. So I dragged myself out of bed, headed downstairs, fed the dog, let him out, let him back in, and then climbed back upstairs and into bed. After a little while Allison and I finally got up and made ourselves a nice simple breakfast of oatmeal with strawberries.
Then we got dressed and headed out to Old Cedar Avenue near Long Meadow Lake for a hike. Allison had had the brilliant idea that since we had so much fun hiking in Arizona maybe we should just keep hiking after getting back home? And you know what? There are lots of places to do that within or close to the Twin Cities. So the three of us went on a wonderful ~2 mile hike along the lake. There were numerous people out hiking and bird watching (some of the people had some serious scopes on tripods). Boudreaux got very excited when he saw some ducks in a pond and really enjoyed walking up and down a stream.
Something else there that was neat was the Old Cedar Avenue bridge. It is a two lane bridge that used to be the only way across the Minnesota River in our part of the southern suburbs. And it was what my dad took to work every morning from Burnsville to Golden Valley when I was growing up. It is right next to the new 6 lane Cedar Avenue bridge. Whenever I drive over the river and look at that rickety old bridge my mind reels at trying to imagine rush hour crossing the river.
After our hike we headed back home and had a delicious lunch of leftover andoule sausage jambalaya. I had made it the night before (from a box) and it was still quite tasty.
Next came the productive part of our day. Allison and I moved some of the furniture around downstairs so she could paint one of the walls. There are only a couple left and it looks much nicer than the stark white we had before.
While Allison was painting I headed outside with Boudreaux and got out the chainsaw. I cut down a few lower branches from some of the trees in our yard. I was trying to get rid of the ones that really hang down and make it difficult to mow the lawn. I dragged the cut branches back into the woods behind my house and while coming back from dropping off the last couple of branches five white-tailed deer ran by. Boudreaux had been watching me take the branches out of the yard and he was transfixed by the small herd. I then took some pesticide and diatomaceous earth (which is supposed to help with box-elder bugs) and sprayed and spread around the base of our house.
By the time I was done Allison had pulled out our plastic yard furniture bench and started reading her Kindle (she's in the middle of A Clash of Kings, in preparation for the upcoming season of A Game of Thrones on HBO). I headed inside to grab my own Kindle and grabbed us both a nice, cool, Leinies Sunset Wheat and then headed outside to join her.
We sat there for maybe an hour, maybe two. Just reading our books and sipping our beers. The last I had checked the mercury had reached 78 degrees, but it wouldn't surprise me it it hit about 80 while we were out there. And I tell you what, we had zero problems reading our Kindles in the bright sunlight. In fact, it was probably even easier than reading a real book because it isn't the bright white of a page made of paper.
The last time I talked about what I was reading I was soldiering through a fairly poorly written book. Since then I had read a bunch on the plane and also while enjoying myself in Arizona. I finished that book, Fight For the Abyss, the next book, Mechanicum, the following book, an anthology of short stories called Tales of Heresy, and am currently reading the 11th book in the Horus Heresy series, Fallen Angels. I've quite enjoyed everything since Fight For the Abyss.
Around five o'clock I headed upstairs and grabbed a couple of New York Strip steaks out of the frig in preparation for dinner. There was no way I was going to let this day go by without turning on the grill. When the grill was ready I used a little Famous Dave's Burger and Steak rub and threw those bad boys on the fire. The steaks were served with a simple arugula and tomato salad with balsamic vinaigrette dressing and an excellent French wine that Allison had picked up a couple weeks ago. It has 50% Grenache and 50% Syrah. I can't describe to you what "notes" it had, or what it "hinted at", but I can tell you it complemented my medium-rare steak excellently. And if I do say so myself, the steaks were fantastic.
We cleared away the dishes and cleaned up after dinner and an odd notion came into my head. The beautiful sunny day harkened back to summer days of my youth and I wanted to something I hadn't done in quite some time. I asked Allison if she wanted to hit the Dairy Queen drive-in and just go on a little drive in the country. She surprised me by saying "Yeah, let's go." And the three of us got back in the car and took off.
We headed out to Rosemount and the Dairy Queen there. As expected the drive-in line was long and there were family's at every picnic table and all over the parking lot enjoying sundaes and cones and Blizzards and other treats. We got up to the window and I ordered a mini Oreo Blizzard for Allison and after a small internal debate I ordered a small Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Blizzard for myself. The debate was not over the flavor but the size (I've had a couple medium and even large Blizzards in my day) and by the time I had finished I was happy with my choice.
From Rosemount we headed for downtown Farmington. Neither of us had actually been to our neighbor town to the south. It was not quite what I was expecting, at least not where we drove through. Downtown Lakeville is a cute and quaint little area. "Downtown" Farmington, or at least the main commercial drag through the center of town was anything but cute. A couple of strip malls and a restaurant/gas station. I'm sure we missed other stuff and we'll just have to return again some day. By the way, Boudreaux really enjoyed the drive. His head was out the window nearly the entire time.
We got back after sunset and for our next activity Allison suggested we head down stairs and play a board game. You never have to ask me twice to engage in my favorite hobby so with newly filled wine glasses in hand we went downstairs.
Then the tough choice became which game to play. Allison was debating over whether to play her favorite game, Dominion, or try playing Stone Age again. I got Stone Age for Christmas and we had played it once so far and she opted to bring it out again. Allison won our first contest a few months ago, but I'm sorry to say that I beat her this time. It was another fun contest and I was glad we got to play it.
When we finished packing up the game I didn't even have the chance to ask "What do you want to do now?" when Allison asked "Do you want to watch Iron Man?" Ummm, yes.
I had seen Iron Man in the theater and Allison had not. I have never been a big comic book collector but I've always enjoyed the stories and the heroes. With the Avengers movie coming out in just a couple months I had planned to watch the related movies that I hadn't seen yet. I had seen Iron Man and Thor, but hadn't yet watched The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, or Captain America. When I got Hulk in the mail Allison expressed an interest in watching it with me. She enjoyed it and since I was getting Iron Man 2 next I asked her if she wanted me to get Iron Man first, which she did.
So we poured out the remainder of the wine, popped in Iron Man, and watched a great super hero action flick.
Phew! I think that's it. After the movie, on the way upstairs to bed, I was thinking about what a great day it had been and I suddenly remembered my Blizzard which I had nearly forgotten about. It was then that this blog post started forming.
So let's recap:
Up early with my wonderful dog, Boudreaux
Oatmeal and strawberries
Hike near the Minnesota river
Andoule sausage jambalaya
Chainsaw and branch cutting with a deer sighting
Sitting in the sun and the heat with my wife, my Kindle, and a beer
Steaks and wine for dinner
A cookie dough Blizzard and a drive through the country
A game of Stone Age with Allison with a glass of wine
Watched Iron Man with a glass of wine
Yep, not too shabby.
Friday, March 16, 2012
Walking the dog, walking the dog
(You can sing the title of this post to Judas Priest's "Breaking the Law")
This morning, before I did anything else, before the sun even came up, I took Boudreaux on a walk/jog. It was a nice crisp morning.
I am hoping to make this a regular thing. We shall see. I'm really out of shape and I need it. But I'm also really lazy, especially in the morning.
This morning, before I did anything else, before the sun even came up, I took Boudreaux on a walk/jog. It was a nice crisp morning.
I am hoping to make this a regular thing. We shall see. I'm really out of shape and I need it. But I'm also really lazy, especially in the morning.
Monday, March 12, 2012
South Rim outside El Tovar
Lipan Point on the South Rim
Sunday, March 11, 2012
Walnut Canyon
Wupatki Pueblo
Lenox Crater
Saturday, March 10, 2012
From the Other Side
Sedona is nice this time of year
Red Rock Scenic Drive
Roadside Snack
Montezuma Castle Nat Monument
Yuzigoot National Monument
Carved Into a Mountain
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Put the Thesaurus Down!
As I mentioned in a previous post one of the books I'm reading, Fight for the Abyss, has writing of a...lesser quality. But I couldn't quite put my finger on what or why. The story was interesting enough (but again, not as interesting as the previous book in the series) but the actual words on the page seemed poorly chosen and poorly put together. Sometimes things seemed to be repeated more than was necessary. Or really odd words were used to describe thing. The series often uses interesting and archaic words in place of everyday things to give the world a certain feeling. But the author seems to be having trouble with that in this particular book.
I finally came across a passage that nearly put me over the edge. This passage illuminated (pun intended...you'll see in a second) a lot of what I didn't like about the book.
Let me set the scene. A small, rag-tag group of futuristic warriors (Space Marines) and the crew of an old and now partially disabled space vessel are chasing after a mammoth enemy ship filled with the traitorous former brothers-in-arms of the aforementioned Space Marines. This big, evil ship is set on destroying the home world of the good guys. In the middle of a pitched battle the author gives us this description as the leader of the Space Marines steps into the bridge of his ship:
And are you trying to tell me that in the grim darkness of the 31st millennium that humans have become so advanced that they shy away from mundane things like "red alert" and prefer the far more futuristic "vermillion alert?" "Vermillion alert?" I had to read the sentence again and then put the book down while I let out a small chuckle.
Let me tell you, I've written my share of overly worked prose. I can see myself scribbling on a page with the thesaurus at my side. Whenever a word seemed a little boring I'd pop over to the thesaurus to see if I could make it "better." But then again, I'm not what you'd call a "writer", and certainly not a "published author." I'm a hack with a blog.
And don't get me wrong, I love a good turn of phrase littered with flowery adjectives. Not everything has to be Ernest Hemingway. But it has to be done right. Look back at my recently read list. Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edward Gibbon knew how to drip a little extra spice on a sentence. But not everyone can do what those authors did, at least not successfully. And most people should know that. I'm also a little mystified that the editors let this stuff through. Of course, it is in the middle of a very popular SciFi series. It isn't like the sales numbers were in doubt. Why spend the extra time to do it right?
Anyway, I'm almost done with this one, which is kind of a relief. I can't wait to move to the next book in the hopes that it will be much better. One nice thing about this series is that it is definitely easy and light reading.
I finally came across a passage that nearly put me over the edge. This passage illuminated (pun intended...you'll see in a second) a lot of what I didn't like about the book.
Let me set the scene. A small, rag-tag group of futuristic warriors (Space Marines) and the crew of an old and now partially disabled space vessel are chasing after a mammoth enemy ship filled with the traitorous former brothers-in-arms of the aforementioned Space Marines. This big, evil ship is set on destroying the home world of the good guys. In the middle of a pitched battle the author gives us this description as the leader of the Space Marines steps into the bridge of his ship:
Drenched in the crimson gloom from vermillion alert status, the bridge looked bloody in the half-light.So you're saying the room was red, huh?
And are you trying to tell me that in the grim darkness of the 31st millennium that humans have become so advanced that they shy away from mundane things like "red alert" and prefer the far more futuristic "vermillion alert?" "Vermillion alert?" I had to read the sentence again and then put the book down while I let out a small chuckle.
Let me tell you, I've written my share of overly worked prose. I can see myself scribbling on a page with the thesaurus at my side. Whenever a word seemed a little boring I'd pop over to the thesaurus to see if I could make it "better." But then again, I'm not what you'd call a "writer", and certainly not a "published author." I'm a hack with a blog.
And don't get me wrong, I love a good turn of phrase littered with flowery adjectives. Not everything has to be Ernest Hemingway. But it has to be done right. Look back at my recently read list. Herman Melville, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edward Gibbon knew how to drip a little extra spice on a sentence. But not everyone can do what those authors did, at least not successfully. And most people should know that. I'm also a little mystified that the editors let this stuff through. Of course, it is in the middle of a very popular SciFi series. It isn't like the sales numbers were in doubt. Why spend the extra time to do it right?
Anyway, I'm almost done with this one, which is kind of a relief. I can't wait to move to the next book in the hopes that it will be much better. One nice thing about this series is that it is definitely easy and light reading.
A (not so) long twilight struggle
Now the trumpet summons us again - not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need; not as a call to battle, though embattled we are; but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, 'rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation', a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself.
- John F. Kennedy
My buddy Dave came over for a game of Twilight Struggle last night. It is currently the #1 rated game on BoardGameGeek, taking over that coveted spot from two of my favorite games: (most recently #1) Agricola and (#1 previous to Agricola) Puerto Rico.
Twilight Struggle is a game covering the Cold War pitting one player as the USA against another as the USSR. I was the United States and let me tell you, it was not pretty. I can't even really explain what happened and what went so wrong. But Dave jumped out on me early and I couldn't do anything to claw my way back into the game. This was only my second time playing so I made plenty of mistakes that hopefully I wouldn't (won't?) make the next time.
It is a very interesting game with an endless string of tough choices. The play centers around playing cards from your hand either to enact a historical event that has some effect on the game or use those cards to do other actions. Much of the time you're looking at a hand of cards where you must play one but you don't want to play any! The key to being able to play the game well is understanding how the cards interact and also being able to anticipate some of the more brutal events in the deck. I was unable to do either of those things.
The game goes until someone triggers nuclear war (thus losing) or nine game turns are played or one side ends up with 20 more victory points than the other. Dave won by getting 20 VPs in the 4th turn of the game. Ouch!
Here's the start of our game of game. Sorry for the glare. We tried putting the map under the glass to help it lay flat (it is just paper and not mounted to any cardboard or anything.) It worked really well for the game. The only thing that bugged us was the glare. I need to try and figure out something with my lighting.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
More Table Pics
Here are a couple more pictures of my new gaming table.
First, the picture of the birds eye veneer just doesn't do it justice.
And here is the base. It is very unique but it does its job while looking good.And Boudreaux says hello.
First, the picture of the birds eye veneer just doesn't do it justice.
And here is the base. It is very unique but it does its job while looking good.And Boudreaux says hello.
Thursday, March 1, 2012
New gaming table
I got a new gaming table today. It used to be the conference table at the cabinet shop I used to work at. The border and base are solid walnut and the center is birds-eye maple veneer. The texture of the maple is amazing. I'll try to get a good close up sometime as this wide angle shot from my crappy phone's camera does not do it justice.
Allison helped me inaugurate it tonight by beating me two games to one in Dominion. Thanks, hun!
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