The Hangover Part 2 Trailer

You know that they have to top the craziness from the first movie. Watch the trailer for your preview of The Hangover Part 2. The Wofpack is back. Scheduled for a late May release in Canada, the U.S. and the U.K. Look! A Monkey!

The Hangover Part 2

The Lagina Clock is Ticking

Facebook strikes again. Some anonymous complaint to the heroes that run Facebook has forced a Montreal band to take down their group page. Lagina, a progressive math-punk band has been playing and performing around Montreal since 2003. Where Facebook fails, Myspace continues to support great music talent.

Find more artists like Lagina at Myspace Music

I was immediately concerned over what could possibly have offended anyone to the point where the page was deemed offensive. I'm a fan of the band and have seem them perform three or four times. I started my search on the intergoogle. Urbandictionary.com (it is written so it must be true) has a definition of Lagina (with a small L) as follows: "The crevice, or fleshy divot, resulting from the tension of unduly tight clothing on a man's genitalia. It specifically refers to the testicular area, and the ridge that becomes visible between the testes. Often referred to as camel-toe when such clothing is worn by and pressed against a woman's genitalia."
I seem to remember clicking on the Like button on the Lagina Facebook page. Therefore, at some point, on my profile it said, 'Shawn likes Lagina'. In effect it stated that Shawn likes "the crevice or fleshy divot, resulting from the tension of unduly tight clothing..." Maybe it's a good thing the page was deleted. Go visit Lagina, the band, on their myspace page.

Lagina

The Great Chili Cook Off

Red Kidney & Pinto Beans

We organize a pot luck at work every couple of months. It starts with breakfast and ends with lunch. With 15-20 participants, there is a lot of grub. The lazy people pick up bagels, muffins, or coffee. The others actually prepare food. The first time out a made a huge garden salad. Huge. Another time I brought chocolate danish. Yeah, I was lazy. But it tasted great and was a huge hit. With a few days until the next pot luck I had to make a decision. What should I make for the pot luck?  I was planning on making chili this weekend so the timing was perfect. I will make a  batch of chili. I will bring in enough to feed 20 people. All would feast. All would love Shawn. If only I knew how to make chili.

Vegetables and Meat Ingredients

I like eating chili. The best chilis have plenty of ground beef and just enough spice to feel it but not so much that it hurts. I just do not know how to make Chili. I also have never used dried bagged beans before. Who would have thought that one little bag of beans would absorb so much water that it would grow to 20 times its original size? That was the first lesson I learned. The second lesson was to find out that after soaking the beans, you should bowl them for 90 minutes to soften them. And then I went to look for a recipe for the best chili ever.

Instead I found this recipe. Basic, and something I could work with.
The recipe called for:

1 and a ½ pounds ground beef

½ pound pork sausages

1 cup chopped onions

2  15 and a ½-ounce cans red kidney beans

1 28-ounce can of tomatoes, cut up

1 cut chopped green pepper

1 cup thinly sliced celery

1 6-ounce can tomato paste

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons chili powder

Alexander Keith's IPA

I know how to cook, and I like to experiment. Perhaps with more beans than brains I made several substitutions.

I replaced the pork sausages with spicy Toulouse sausages.
I doubled the kidney beans and added a share of pinto beans
Rather than chili powder I used chili pepper
I added a tablespoon of Tobasco sauce
I don't like cooking with tomato paste, so I added in fresh tomatoes. And a second can of the same.
I also added a whole red pepper.
And beer. Mostly for drinking but I am going to pour some in just because its beer. I think red wine would go better. But I am out of red wine.

Oven Roasted Chili

The instructions were to place the beef, sausage and onions in a Dutch oven. So I grabbed the ingredients and put them in my bed. Get it? No? Look it up kids. Seriously though, I know that a Dutch oven is a pot. I also know that I do not own one. I looked it up on the googlenet and discovered that, they look to be a cast iron pot. I decided to use what I had. I took a closed pot for stove top cooking and a roasting pan for the oven. I had enough ingredients for both and wanted to see which would work better to cook the chili.

Stove Top Chili

Place the beef, sausage and onions in your pot and cook it until the meat browns. Then add in the rest of the ingredients. Keep it on simmer for an hour and a half, stirring occasionally.

My recommendations? I was surprised that the oven cooking made a tastier chili. Stick with the stove top cooking if you want to go for a more traditional recipe or if you prefer a faster preparation. The oven cooking requires an extra 45 minutes at 300 degrees. Overall it makes for a good chili recipe and a relatively healthy meal to boot. The pinto beans adds the extra touch. And as far as I am concerned chili just isn't chili without hot sauce. Chili is a great idea for lunch or supper.

Pinetop Perkins

Joseph Williams "Pinetop" Perkins, the man who became the oldest Grammy award winner died today in his Texas home. He was 97. Pinetop Perkins was born in Mississippi in 1913 and started his career in the late 1920s. His 2010 work called, Joined at the Hip won him a Grammy for Best Traditional Blues CD.
Original known as a sideman, Perkins spent years playing in the Muddy Waters Band and with Sonny Boy Williamson before going solo. Perkins was also nominated in 2005 for a Grammy and recognized with a lifetime achievement award for his 80 year career.

Red Dawn is On!

The L.A. Times is reporting an overhaul of the film Red Dawn. The movie, already complete, and long passed the originally scheduled 2010 release date, is getting a new antagonist. Perhaps MGM bankruptcy troubles were a godsend, only time will tell. As I have mentioned before, the film plot surrounds the invasion of the U.S.A. by foreign aggressors. The original script and final production had the Chinese invading. It seems though, with the huge film market that exists in China for American film, producers decided to erase any mention of attacking Chinese. The L.A. times reports "filmmakers now are digitally erasing Chinese flags and military symbols from 'Red Dawn,' substituting dialogue and altering the film to depict much of the invading force as being from North Korea."

Red Dawn

Does this have you worried? What film of good quality would receive such a major overhaul? I am starting to wonder if the studio's financial woes were not the only reason for keeping the film in the can. Is it really just money talking? Politics? We shall see once Red Dawn finally hits the big screens.
I have been on the edge of my seat waiting for the release since I heard of it in 2007. The original hit the theatres in 1984 and was a fun gritty film about a bunch of High Schoolers who take on an invading force from the Soviet Union.
The fears of the Cold War added to the success of the film. But whose afraid of China these days? North Korea and their wacky leader make a much better target. Not to mention the much smaller market of North Korea, where it is unlikely the film will ever be released. Red Dawn stars Chris Hemsworth and is expected to hit the box office some time in 2011. Details of the release are still sketchy, although it has been reported that Denmark will screen the film in September 2011. More to come...

The Bigger They Are The Harder They'll Fall

Too tired to rant and rave on the fiasco that is the NHL I begged a pleaded for assistance. And lo, a hero comes. Guest blogger and all round swell guy Joe Bunga to the rescue. My personal take is that since the NHL did not punish Zdeno Chara for his hit on Max Pacioretty, the Canadiens must exact revenge. Here is Bunga's take.

Cheap-Shot Chara by Joe Bunga

Chara

Look, in interviews after the game, Chara said he didn't mean to rub Pacioretty out like an eraser on the end of a lead pencil. However, the not-so-gentle giant made an excuse that Max "jumped" up and therefore insinuated that it was the victim's fault that he smashed noggin' first into the stanchion. Really Zdeno? REALLY?! Hey, tall goon ass, it's that type of "check" that gives hockey a bad name. Forget for the moment that it wasn't a clear "headshot", forget that you didn't try to hipcheck him or just skate with him (and on that note, the puck was nowhere in play, hence the interference penalty... so what the fuck were you doing lining him up for a massive hit along the boards anyway, you big putz?) no, instead you directed him oh-so-gently into a wall. Oh, and if you're going to sit there and tell me from your gigantic head that you didn't know where you were on the ice when you hit Max, then I bet you also believe that the Easter Bunny farts monkeys out of its butt and that Santa Claus is really Muslim.

Y'know, it's cement heads like you that are killing the game. How many parents do you think want to let their kids watch crap like that, let alone consider letting them play competitively knowing their offspring have a good chance of losing a vertebrae or two because some behemoth troll decides it makes sense to play like an idiot?

And to the league officials who decided that neither fine nor suspension were merited for this normal "hockey play", I have one finger for you. it's just a couple down from my pinky. Morons.

Zdeno Chara Strikes Again

If real violence makes you squeamish, do not click play. This is all Zdeno Chara's fault.

An unconscious Max Pacioretty following Zdeno Chara's gutless attack. No suspension.

Alice in Chains Loses Another

Bass player and original member of the band Alice in Chains, Mike Starr was found dead earlier today at the age of 44. Starr's death comes nine years after the passing of lead singer Layne Staley. Recently Starr appeared on the 2009 season of Celebrity Rehab.
As a founding member of Alice in Chains, Starr appeared on the bands first four studio albums including their 2003 breakthrough LP Dirt. He left the band soon after the album's release.

I believe them bones are me

Some say we're born into the grave

I feel so alone

Gonna end up a big ole pile a them bones

Alice in Chains, Them Bones

Return to Sender

I keep getting mail that doesn't belong to me. It all belongs to the lady that used to live here. I am getting credit card statements, recalls from her car dealership, birthday cards, wedding invitations, and requests from various charities. It's really not a problem for me. There is a mail box right in front of my office. I mark on each envelope, 'Moved. Return to Sender.' This happens at least twice a week. For the last 18 months. And every time I think of the Elvis song.

Elvis Presley

Even though I changed my address with every company I dealt with, I paid to have my mail forwarded to the new place for the first year. It was a good bet because I forgot to notify the alumni association from university. But how can you forget about your bank?
I am the honest sort. I don't throw any of her mail out. I also don't need to open the mail. I can figure out what's inside without doing so. I just do not understand why she hasn't taken care of this. So, Holly if you are reading this, come pick up your mail. And if you speak to her tell her to call me.