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I don’t get impressed easily by technology; rather, I’m in the habit of expecting “more” flawlessly, seamlessly, and instantaneously. Wolfram|Alpha impresses me and I can’t wait to use it.

Dear Secret Blogger Santa,

Thanks for the website invitation – I love to read and share my books with others because the best books are the ones whose spines are well worn and whose pages have earmark creases – you know they’ve spread the most love!

For all other booklovers: Bookins.com

Thanks and Merry Christmas!

Titan

“I’m like the RA of dormitory America.”

- Steven Colbert

This DVD should be shown in every high school across the planet. Scratch that; every household.

An Inconvenient Truth has no political agenda. Its no wild left-wingist, ultra tree-hugger, everyone should be hippies film. It IS a presentation of factual evidence cataloging our hasty demise through the destruction of nature. Al Gore does a terrific job of presenting scientific data in an easy to understand, very impactful manner while forming a bond with the audience and addressing all of the reasons people discount global warming. And although this film left a deep, sorrowful, emotional impact on me, it also left me with a feeling of hope because as he mentions, we have ALL of the technology now to reduce our environmental impact to below what it was in the 1970s. We are capable of saving the planet starting today, and for our future’s sake, we need to.

Critics of the global-warming “theory” – watch this film. Parents – watch this film. Children – watch this film. Politicians – watch this film. Environmentalists – watch this film. If you anticipate being alive in the next 35-50 years – watch this film. EVERYBODY – watch this film!

Think Dance Dance Revolution without the exercise.

The object of Boom Boom Rocket is to explode fireworks in time to classical music that’s been remixed into techno. There are four firework types: Red (right arrow), Yellow (up arrow), Blue (left arrow), and Green (down arrow), and to explode each, just press either of the corresponding buttons. More points are awarded for fireworks exploded closer to (awesome) or directly on (perfect) the purple line about 3/4 from the top of the screen.

Sounds easy, right? I played this game for three solid nights before I even tried Hard difficulty. It took us two nights to get an A* on Easy, and we still don’t have an A on Medium. I do have Bs on two of the Hard difficulty now, though. But on one song – Easy level – I’m ranked 32nd of all who have played. *beam*

Why so hard? As the difficulty goes up, so does the number – and variety – of fireworks. Basically more of the beats of the song have corresponding fireworks, and they begin to use different fireworks for different notes. They also have multiples go off at once.

This game is pretty addicting, and since your score is rated automatically online its easy to want to move up the ranks. Lots of fun for $10, and we’ve definitely gotten our money’s worth.

A good action film. Lots of guns. Lots of blood. Glorious amounts of death. And some comedy. Five equally motivated and professional groups converge on one hotel penthouse to take control of one person…some for money, some for knowledge, some for death. We were rooting for kills by the end.

Also, an all-star cast: Ray Liotta, Ben Affleck, Ryan Reynolds, Alicia Keys.

If you want action, I recommend it.

Okay, so it isn’t technically a movie, but close enough. Band of Brothers is a HBO-miniseries (10 hour long episodes) following the first-ever paratroopers through WWII. Its based on a true story, and the History Channel has a portion of their site dedicated to it, so it must be fairly accurate. I do know it is fabulous. Absolutely awesome. Eric got me the entire series for our anniversary and we just finished it the other night. Not only does it have the miniseries, the DVD set also comes with interviews with the survivors, basic military information, and extra information about each man and his choice to sign up for the paratroopers. I haven’t watched the interviews, but I believe when I get a chance, they will be good.

I really can’t believe I’ve neglected to post about Oblivion thus far. We’ve had it for months, obsessed over it for months, spent hundreds of hours playing it and yet nary a word written.

Oblivion is the XBox 360 sequel to Morrowind, an open-ended, first-person RPG. What an upgrade! This game is literally one of the best RPGs I’ve ever played. The graphics are awesome, the gameplay rocks, the menus are well laid out and easy to use, and its very, very difficult to run out of places to explore, quests to conquer, and, in general, things to do, although I’ve heard once you conquer the main quest the interest level takes a dive. A good option, however, is to start another character! With such a wide variety of character races, styles, personalities, and interests, I’ve already created another (completely different) character in my head for playing once I’m done with my current one.

Drawbacks? Well, they’re pretty few and far between, but here’s a list:

• Creating a new character takes a LONG time. Expect to spend at least 45 minutes the first time and 30 subsequent times unless you’ve planned out absolutely every little detail about the making of the character. Spending hours on character creation isn’t unheard of.
• Oblivion is not a quick game. If you’re looking to conquer it quickly, play Fable instead.
• My roommate experienced the game not allowing him to complete a certain task required to conquer the main quest.
• One of the Ayleid ruins is missing its statue. You must download the patch to find it. Not having this statue makes this quest as well as completing all of the Ayleid ruins quests nigh impossible to finish.

Really, do play this game (A LOT) if you’re into RPGs. You won’t be disappointed, but your skin may pale, you may forget to eat/sleep, and your friends & relations may feel abandoned. This game is like crack.

Lately Eric and I have expanded our cooking skills to include 2 excellent meals, chimichangas and ham chowder. Yes, ham, not clam, chowder.

Reed’s Chimichangas (~20 mins)
From a past roommate Reed, these chimichangas are absolutely delicious.

Ingredients:

• shredded cheddar cheese
• salsa
• shredded chicken
• extra large tortillas

Note: Amounts based on your preference and how much you’d like to make. For 6 soft taco-sized chimichangas, I used 2 small cans of chunked chicken, a couple of spoonfuls of salsa, and most of a bag of shredded cheddar cheese.

Combine ingredients until mixture is “gloopy.” Roll mixture into warm tortilla shells. Fry in 1/2″ of oil until brown, or bake in oven for a healthy alternative. Enjoy!

Sue’s Ham Chowder (~45 mins – 1 hour)

Ingredients:

• 2 c. boiling water
• 2 c. diced potatoes
• 1/2 c. sliced carrots
• 1/2 c. chopped celery
• 1/4 c. chopped onion
• 1/4 c. margerine/butter
• 1/4 c. flour
• 2 c. milk
• 2 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese (10 oz.)
• 1 can cream-style corn
• 2 c. cubed ham
• ground pepper

In a large pot (and I do mean large), combine water, potatoes, carrots, celery, onions, and ground pepper to taste. Cover and simmer for 15-20 mins. DON’T DRAIN! In another pot, melt butter and stir in flour. Add milk, stirring constantly with a wire wisk on medium heat until thickened. Add cheese and continue stirring until cheese melts.

Add cheese sauce, corn, and ham to veggie mix. Heat until hot but not boiling. Enjoy!