Month: January 2016

Vanishing Addendum of DVR Highlights

Continuing in the vein of my previous post, I haven’t completely neglected my DVR this January, although it is my last resort for entertainment (see my reference to inferior HD quality provided by satellite subscription).

This week brought back the formidable Agent Carter who is apparently carrying the investigative torch of the mysterious and ancient society obsessed with the portal stone most recently perplexing the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  This is another series Terry rolls his eyes at.  I accused him of not caring for it because it has such a strong female lead.  He protested that was not the case.  I just love period dramas – the costumes, cars, sets, locations, etc.  Besides, we final met Jarvis’ wife (rumor was last season that she was a figment of Jarvis’ imagination).

I’ve dragged Terry along watching the new Syfy original series The Expanse, based on the SF book series of the same name by James S.A. Corey.  Except for one small quibble, I really enjoyed the first book of that series, Leviathan Wakes, and I do plan to eventually continuing reading the books.  I’m enjoying watching the series because good SF television series are few and far between.

But enough science fiction.  How about some epic fantasy?  Enjoyed Terry Brook’s Shannara books, including the original 1977 Sword of Shannara?  Then tune in to MTV (yes I really did just type those three letters) to feast your eyes upon The Shannara Chronicles, which debuted this month.  I’m three episodes in and pretty much hooked.

That’s it for now.  Can’t remember if anything else is forthcoming that I’m interested in.  If you have a suggestion for a show I should try, please leave a comment.

Oh, and Phase I of my weekend work project completed successfully.  Now we wait … so time to watch another episode of Manhattan.

 

 

 

The Case of the Vanishing January

Today is the 22nd of January and of 2016.  I woke up this morning to a bitter cold Friday, to the prospect of working through most of the weekend.  Not the best way to start your day.  A huge project I’ve been involved with for many many moons is finally rolling out.  So while I’m stressed beyond belief, I’m excited to finally be able to put this project in the completed bin come Monday morning.  Then it’s on to the next “Big Thing,” er, project.

Stressful work-life aside, January wasn’t a complete loss for leisure.  I’ve read a space opera that I liked, listened to an audiobook for a book club that was interesting, read my first graphic novel for another book club and read an ebook novella (click here to see what I’ve read so far this year).  Continue reading “The Case of the Vanishing January”

Recipe Review: Alton Brown’s Lentil Soup (4 stars)

Traditionally, people tend to eat black eyed peas for good luck on New Year’s Day.  I bucked that trend (and to be honest I don’t actually remember ever having eaten black eyed peas) and decided to make, for the very first time, lentil soup.

I’ve had great luck with recipes from Alton Brown’s kitchen so when I found this Lentil Soup one, I decided to give it a try.

All of the ingredients I used were organic, which the exception of the spices.  And speaking of spices, I had to skip the ground Grains of Paradise as I could not find that spice at my local grocers.   I will have to special order that spice for the next time I make this recipe.  And there will be a next time.

This was super (or should I say ‘souper’) easy to make.  And it didn’t take me as long as his recipe stated to prep.  Probably just 15-20 minutes instead of thirty minutes.  I sweated the vegetables a little longer than his recipe stated because I used my new crockpot and not a dutch oven.

Terry and I both had two bowls of the lentil soup for supper.  Very good.  We have enough left over to freeze and/or eat again later this week.

Happy New Year!