herbiehancock

Happy New Year! Thanks so much for stopping by to see what Karen Cooks! I've had so much fun blogging these last four months, I can't wait for more of it! I have some new ideas I'm going to try, and next week we'll be having a giveaway! I hope 2009 will be a peaceful and happy year for all of you! ******* Ring out, wild bells, to the wild sky, The flying cloud, the frosty light: The year is dying in the night; Ring out, wild bells, and let him die. Ring out the old, ring in the new, Ring, happy bells, across the snow: The year is going, let him go; Ring out the false, ring in the true. In Memorium by Alfred, Lord Tennyson Click here to read the entire poem

Gabcast! Dancing With Daisy #45 - Orchids Click the play button above to hear me read this poem. Orchids Delicate blooms, fragile alone yet strong united, they are like a host of angels with white wings and cupped faces glowing with the light of God. Each angel carries a small golden star shining for the hope of peace and the promise of days yet to come. Glorious wonder, wonderful glory! Sing hallelujah! Sing! The orchids float in the air above a single green stem. They are tethered by faith between earth and heaven, past and future, old and new. Glorious wonder, wonderful glory! Sing hallelujah! Sing! I wish for all of us a new year full of joy and peace. I hope the days ahead bring blessings too numerous to count. Don't forget to dance whenever you get the chance! Thank you my friends. I get a kick out of you! =)

Well, a year came and went... and as with most people, I met essentially zero of my resolutions from 2008 ! 2008 Resolution #1) Control my spending on stuff I don't really need. Reign in those costs! Well, here I got the closest. I still bought many things I did not need... but at the same time had a mini nervous breakdown about having too much shit around when I cleaned out/reorganized everything back in June. Ever since then, I more or less have been forced to curb spending due to lack of money. Maybe due to the economy and $4+ gas, maybe do to prices going up... but Celga hasn't been as friendly to me the last half of the year heh. 2008 Resolution #2) Keep a sketchbook/journal. This lasted about a month. I did actually draw and write some, but alas, I am even a perfectionist in my own head and my shitty drawings and ranting writing was embarrassing for even me to read/view. So like any good self hating perfectionist, I just quit so I don't have to face failure. 2008 Res...

I have a shelf of randomness here at the office. A couple Kinnikuman Romandohs, some tin wind-up robots, a talking Krusty the Clown doll, Transformers Decepticon Soundwave, even a little Green Lantern drawing by GL creator Mart Nodell signed and in a little green frame! I have some little stuff in front... Sucklord's Suckpeg and a Microman buddy for him, some random Kinkeshi, and a cool wooden Gama-go Deathbot. I want to get the rest of those. Speaking of Mart Nodell, the other side of the shelf has a big vinyl Pillsbury Doughboy orgy going on. You can usually find these little guys on ebay for pretty cheap. The older sculpt is softer and better in my opinion to the new one. And down below beside the phone I have happy Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man (from the 80s) standing in the hand of a larger, more menacing Stay-Puft.

I'm not a big fan of food with a strong lemon flavor. My gardener isn't a big fan of foods with a vinegary flavor. So why did I choose to make Chicken Piccata where the main ingredients are lemon and capers ? Because I like vinegary things and he likes lemon! This dish was a trade-off between the two. I got this recipe from Epicurious and you can find it here . I butterflied two boneless, skinless chicken breasts and pounded them to about 1/4" thick. Season some flour with salt and pepper, dredge the chicken and fry in olive oil until browned and cooked through. Remove chicken from the pan and bring wine, lemon juice and chicken broth to a boil. Whisk in a butter-flour mixture to thicken, stir in the capers, parsley and more butter! The recipe called for 1/4 cup lemon juice, but I used only 3 tablespoons. The recipe also called for 1/4 cup capers - I only used a few tablespoons and rinsed them before adding them to the sauce to get rid of most of the vinegar taste. I ...

still trying to figure out this mobile blogger thing. Happy holidays from Mr. Pinwheel! And me too I guess...

After moving from CA to MT last year and having to find room and a new place for everything , my answer to the annual question "What do you want for Christmas?" was "I don't want anything I can't eat or drink!" My beautiful daughter gave me a long-wished for paella pan, the appropriate rice and a can of smoked paprika. Yay! I've been wanting one of these pans for so long, but for some reason have put off buying one. Well, obviously I can't eat the pan, but I will gladly find a place for this beauty! And, I hope you will look forward to my posts about different paella recipes... I can't wait! I'll be using some Pampered Chef spices in the future too... there is a Citrus & Basil Rub, a Smoky Barbecue Rub, and Jamaican Jerk Rub. If you're a Pampered Chef fan, you can find these spices here . I would rather shop in a grocery store than anywhere else! I found a few items that I couldn't pass up. A few of my finds were the Maggi Chicken...

No 436 - Beauty and the Beast Director - Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise Over the past months, Elliot and I have frequently found ourselves singing songs from Beauty and the Beast. Usually singing Gaston's parts as we thought he was awesome. So, finally, I snaffled the DVD from my Disney obsessed sister and sat down with old Mr Biddle to watch the quality film. Now, don't get me wrong, I LOVE this film. But there are some huge differences between watching it as a 7 year old in the cinema (which I once did) and watching it now as a world weary cynical bastard.... some of the film just doesn't quite add up. I think we should look at this first - so that I can end this entry with me talking about the sheer magnitude of stuff I love about it! The problem is that essentially.... the plot is flawed. The story begins.... An old woman visits a prince in his castle asking to stay at the castle for the night in return for a rose. The prince refuses. The old woman turns out to be a beau...

Went to see Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa (Eric Darnell, 2008). With G. & R. & Nina & Lou. As good as the first one. Some really neat jokes. Sinister penguins and moving family reunions. The girls loved it.

Watching TV: Fallen . As was to be expected, not as good as the books. But that's mostly because when you read the book, you imagine GORGEOUS angels (fallen or otherwise) who can never be as gorgeous when played by human actors / actresses, in spite of the extreme numbers of extremely good-looking actors / actresses per square mile in LA.

Watched DVDs: Back to the Future I & II (Robert Zemeckis, 1985 / 1989). I know those movies by heart; never tire of them. Fine entertainment. Wanted to show them to Nina & Lou. They liked Back to the Future I better. You still notice small details you hadn't seen before after your nth viewing. The girls went back to the North before we had a chance to watch BTTF III . Remember, Danielle, when we saw Zurück in die Zukunft III in Austria? Favorite quote: [in the past, Marty observes his dad's inept moves] Marty McFly: Jesus, George, it's a wonder I was even born. (thx imdb)

Went to see the Medrano Circus show (with Nina & Lou & G. & R.). R. had never been to the circus, so it was a special moment for us all. The girls loved it. I'm always impressed when I recognize the same guy (in different costumes) making / selling popcorn, taming a white tiger, disappearing into a box, clowning around and then trapezing away. Talk about multi-talented.

Played with Nina & Lou & G. & R.: Cluedo . Ah, nostalgia. The version I had when I was a child was so much more Agatha Christie, so 1950s, with its lovely old-style cardboard bits and pieces and bakelite-looking plastic accessories. Nina kept winning, she's a real sleuth.

Watched DVD: Zombie Strippers (Jay Lee, 2008). Mm. Yes. Not everyone can be Robert Rodriguez, or even Sam Raimi. A piece of curio. Robert Englund's in it. Tongue-in-cheek, but not hilariously so; even though the notion that when they're dead the strippers are bigger turnons is interesting, obviously.

Reading Hack / Slash: Suicide Girls Annual (July 2008). Excellent. For mature readers.

Miley Cyrus used to attend Heritage Middle School and was a cheerleader, but now goes to school at Options For Youth. Miley Cyrus also has a private tutor on the set of her TV show. Cyrus grew up on her parents' farm outside of Nashville, Tennessee where Cyrus also attended The People's Church.

There are several songs on Neil Diamond's CD, 12 Songs , that I really like. Here is one of them, "Save Me a Saturday Night." Come join Music Monday and share your songs with us. One simple rule, leave ONLY the actual post link here. You can grab this code at LJL Please note these links are STRICTLY for Music Monday participants only. All others will be deleted.

At the library yesterday, someone came in asking for a book of fairy tales. When I hear the words "fairy tale," one of the first authors that comes to my mind is Hans Christian Anderson. I can remember reading many of his stories when I was young. Some of my favorites included "The Princess and the Pea," "The Ugly Duckling," and "The Emperor's New Suit." Danny Kaye portrayed Hans Christian Anderson in a fabricated biography of his life in the movie of the same name. If you have never seen this movie, it is a fun one to watch with your family. I can remember watching and enjoying this movie many years ago. I especially liked and remembered a scene from the movie when Danny Kaye sings a song about Thumbelina. Here's the Thumbelina scene to give you a glimpse of it. Although Danny Kaye is singing in the above clip, he was also known for his dancing. Since I don't like to miss an opportunity to have some one dance on my blog, I...

Most of my readers probably know by now that I work at the local library. I took the camera to work to snap a few photos there so I could show you around. I hope you enjoy the tour. Some of these photos are a little blurry. I guess I hadn't had enough caffeine yet when I took these, or maybe I had too much! Apparently, I wasn't doing a very good job of holding the camera still either way. I work in the adult department of the library on the second floor. I didn't take any pictures of the children's department which is on the first floor. The photo above is the front view of the outside of the library. That picture was taken last spring. This is the patron services desk. Behind each of those white box looking things on the ends of the desk is a computer. When I am working, you will most often find me here standing behind one or the other of those two computers. From this desk, I check materials in and out to the patrons, place holds on items, take and fill o...

Top batting performances Graeme Smith's 154 not out at Birmingham against Eng South African top-order at Perth against Oz Virendra Sehwag's 83 at Chennai against Eng Bhajji & Zak's 80 run partnership at Bangalore against Aus Ramnaresh Sarwan's 128 at Antigua against Oz J.P. Duminy's 166 at MCG against Oz Ganguly's 87 at Kanpur against SA Kevin Pietersen's 144 at Mohali against India Gautam Gambhir's 67 and 104 at Mohali against Oz V.V.S. Laxman's 79 at Perth against Oz Top batting performances - Special mention Sehwag's 104 at Adelaide against Oz Sachin's twin innings in the CB series finals at Sydney and Brisbane Symond's century against Rajasthan Royals at Hyderabad Rohit Sharma's beauties in the IPL Top bowling performances Dale Steyn at Ahmedabad.Period. Ajantha Mendis and Murali's 19 wicket- haul at Colombo against India Mitchell Johnson's 11 wicket haul at Perth against SA Ishant Sharma's one wicket haul at Perth...

The Grinch arrived in the form of another ice storm for us today. My brother and his family were scheduled to come to my house this morning for a Christmas brunch family get-together. They had traveled about half the way here from their home in Dayton when we got a phone call. The roads were very treacherous, and they had decided to turn around and return to their home rather than risk driving on the ice and continuing to make the trip here. Unfortunately, by the time we got the call, the breakfast casserole was already in baking. The fruit was already prepared and chilling in the refrigerator. The cinnamon rolls had been baked and iced. Nuts and sweets had been set out. The Santa and Elf hats were at the ready for whoever wanted to wear them. Gifts had been bought and wrapped and placed under the tree. So we were all prepared for a party with no guests. Not to fear. My sons called some friends to come over and help us consume some of the extra food. (Teenage boys like to eat!! H...

No 373 - Wall:E Director - Andrew Stanton Merry Christmas Peoples! So, little sis got this for Christmas yesterday and we watched it in the morning... however I spent most of the day feeling fat and full... watching Dr Who, Wallace and Gromit and thrashing my family at Buzz. I hope you therefore understand why I have taken a day to get round to blogging. The big thing about Wall:E (I can't make the big dot appear so I'm going for colons) is that it really is a difficult film for Pixar . The ambition behind it is huge, epic and very very brave... and it is not something that Pixar have taken lightly. This was one of the first ideas they ever had (along with Toy Story and A Bug's Life), however it took years to happen as they didn't believe they had the technical ability to deliver such a daunting challenge. But why... why do I keep saying that this film would be a hard sell? Let us examine the facts and discuss them individually, there are 2 facts - one is relatively m...

Miley Cyrus was born in Nashville, Tennessee. Miley is the daughter of Leticia "Tish" (née Finley) and country singer Billy Ray Cyrus. Cyrus has 2 older half-brothers; Christopher Cody and Trace, the latter being a vocalist and guitarist of an electronic rock band, Metro Station in California. Cyrus also has an older half-sister, Brandi, a younger brother, Braison, and a younger sister, Noah, who is also an actress. Cyrus was named Destiny Hope because her parents believed that she would accomplish great things. She gained her nickname "Miley" because she kept smiling ("Smiley") as a youngster.

Merry Christmas! Gabcast! Dancing With Daisy #44 - A Christmas Message Click the play button below to hear this message.

No 381 - Monty Python and the Holy Grail Director - Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam So, a few days ago I braved the lights and gridlocked traffic and wandered into London's glittering west end ( oooh !) Where I went to see Spamalot . It is ending in January so I thought I should probably catch it before it ran off cackling into the night time. As I sat there, joyously singing "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life" and whistling along (yes... Wrong film for the song but as its Monty Python's only musical I forgive them. They also have the Spam and Finland songs there) I thought to myself that I would really quite like to see the Holy Grail. Flashback to probably a decade ago.A youthful me sat at my dad's house watching the Holy Grail for the first time. It had been recorded off the telly and I had won the Sunday afternoon TV battle so was sat there (cup of tea in hand) having a good old chuckle. There is a scene near the end where the knights and Arthur collapse on...

Went to see Australia (Baz Luhrmann, 2008). Wow. We had established already that Baz Lurhmann was a postmodern genius, but it's always such a treat. Four excellent films in 16 years, no doubt because when you want to produce something that good, you take your time (like Quentin Tarantino). One thing I hated, though (in Strictly Ballroom, Romeo + Juliet and the magnificent Moulin Rouge I loved everything): the child narrator device. Boring. Cheesy, but not in a good wink-wink way. Just annoying. Possibly, seeing he wanted to draw a very wide audience, he thought it would add to the women's picture elements, but, Baz, you didn't need to do that! It was already extraordinarily moving (not a dry eye in the audience)! That child's voice is acceptable when you see him speak the words, but when you hear the voiceover bits it just makes you cringe. Everything else is absolutely perfect. Spendidly hyperreferenced (principal hypotext: The Wizard of Oz [remember, students, ho...

Wishing you all a peaceful Christmas and a joyous New Year!