Brownies and Four Year Olds

My nephew just visited along with my parents on their way up to pass him off to his daddy. He is about four and a half now, and is definately at an age where every answer given to his question is returned with "why?" and exploring is just as fun as anything else that could be done. After he set foot inside the apartment, it was fun watching him as he would peer around a corner, his eyes wide as he excitedly, but cautiously, peered around the new surroundings. The climax of his visit was probably the little closet under the stairs. We use it to store our camping gear and some gift-wrapping supplies, but there is just enough room for a four year old to creep in and close the door. And did I mention the closet door was only a couple of inches shorter than he is? Could an indoor hideout get any more perfect? Before they left, we made sure to load him up with sugar by giving the three of them some brownies my wife made yesterday. I hope his daddy had a fun time driving home!

(And on that note, some shameless advertising. My wife's blog is going through a baking book called Basic Baking recipe by recipe as she practices her newfound interest in baking.)

Netflix Reviews

My wife and I have been avid fans of Netflix ever since we subscribed, and once they came out with their Wii disc, we have only used it so much more as we can now stream many shows and movies straight to our TV. After watching a movie last night, I thought I would make a short list of recent shows or movies we have watched on Netflix and give a short rating. All ratings are out of five stars.

2012 - C+
Just as the Mayan calendar predicts, the world will end as we know it in 2012. The movie is entertaining and has some quite excellent "end of the world" scenes. I would definately watch parts of it again just for the special effects. As for the plot, they unfortunately seem to have mastered the overuse of combing "too good to be true" with "too bad to be true." I can only take so many earthquake-created cracks in the ground which just so happen to come up right under the main character. In just about every disaster shown, the main character is a second our two from death, and it gets to be a bit much. Otherwise, as long as you overlook that the Mayan Calendar doesn't actually predict the end of the world (it is merely counting up to a cosmic event-- aligning of the planets-- that was a very sacred idea for them), it can be an entertaining movie-- it just needs to curb some of the disasters.

The Box - F
A couple is given a box with a button, and if they press the button, the get a million dollars. The catch? A stranger will die. It is an interesting concept, however they instead made a movie which dragged on and on and it was extremely confusing, and I mean that in a bad way. Mission Impossible was confusing to some, but that is why I liked it. In this case, it just missed the mark, and besides being confusing, the ending did not entirely jive with the rest of the movie, creating a minor continuity issue.

Murder She Wrote - C+
We have only watched two episodes, and although the pilot was LONG, the show is still entertaining. However, we have decided that Jessica Fletcher is far too trusting of total strangers, dark alleyways, and being alone in the same room with a murderer whom she is confronting.

Doctor Who - A+
Action combined with light British humor at its best, this is our second time through the modern series as we recap before watching the current season. The only bad thing about rewatching the modern episodes is that we know we will have to watch David Tennant leave the show.

Bones- A-
Another typical crime drama? No! The show has a unique blend of forensics, character development, and great humor as the genius (and socially inept) forensic anthropologist solves crimes by looking at bones, along with her FBI partner.

Mystery Science Theater 3000- B-
Really funny show making fun of old cheesy movies. Need I say more?

Alaska!

I am sitting in the Fairbanks airport, about to return from the great state of Alaska! For our two-week annual training, my Army Reserves unit ventured to Fort Wainwright to backfill for the 9th Army Band as its members went on block leave. For two weeks we spent our time rehearsing our various groups, doing Army training, and performing at several local venues, including a park, a live broadcast on NPR, and the state fair (twice). The NPR performance can be found here, however the link may only last a few days before it expires. No guarentee on the quality of the performance as I have yet to listen to it, and it was, shall we say... slightly eventful!

During the two weeks, we were extremely busy with our rehearsals, but to balance out our hard work, we had one completely free day. For my day off, I went with a few other band members to Denali National Park and enjoyed the scenic views along my hike, which was well worth the two hour drive. I even saw a moose! No pictures of that though.... yet. A lot of pictures will come later when I can get the files from people with cameras superior to mine.

Being the geek that I am, this kind of reminds me of the border to Mordor.

Maybe upriver to where Arwen crossed with Frodo?

Rohan!

Also, the weather in Alaska was surprisingly milder than I expected, with the exception of actually being too hot for the first couple of days. The length of each night expanded quite a bit even from one day to the next (I heard seven minutes each night), and the days were quite bright, especially in the first week. The two weeks ended with an afternoon of “mandatory fun” which pretty much consisted of food in a park. I did play some horseshoes and a card game (Egyptian Slap Monkey), but the really exciting part of the day was when a dragonfly landed on me to eat its captured yellowjacket. Thank goodness it did not sting me as it was being eaten alive. Pictures will come later after people send them to me.