Loving the Olympics

After how much I enjoyed the 2008 Summer Olympics, I wasn't sure how much I would get into the Winter Olympics. I really connect with some of the big summer sports like swimming and gymnastics because I used to participate in them - plus Beijing did such a great job with the whole presentation that I was afraid the next Olympics would be a letdown. But nope - Shaun and I were once again instantly sucked in and have been watching most of the primetime coverage every single night. Even the opening ceremony, with just a tenth of the budget that Beijing had, were pretty impressive. The killer whales "swimming" over the floor were awesome.

I love hearing the athletes' stories, and even though I don't usually follow them outside of the Olympics, I find myself rooting for them as if I've known them for years. I was so happy for Lindsey Vonn when she overcame injury to win the gold in the downhill. It was thrilling to watch Shaun White win the halfpipe on his first run, only to improve his score on the second by performing a Double McTwist 1260. Evan Lysacek became the first American men's figure skater to win the Olympics since Brian Boitano, and you could just tell how hard he had worked for it. (I also enjoyed watching him much more than the defending gold medalist, Yevgeny Plushenko, and was even happier that Lysacek won after seeing Plushenko's sore loser attitude afterward!) I know sports don't mean a lot in the grand scheme of things, but it's great to see the world come together, and the success of US athletes giving the country hope during difficult times.

Watching the Olympics also makes me miss competition. I was a fairly serious swimmer in high school and while I don't necessarily miss the 3 hours of practice a day, watching some of the races makes me wish I could try it again sometime. It's kind of funny, because I'm normally not a very intense or competitive person, but having someone in the lane next to me, making it a close race, would push me to swim faster than I ever could by myself. I wonder if I can take anything from that and apply it to my life now...hm...

Anyway, I can't wait to see what the second week of the Olympics brings! Anyone else addicted? Favorite moments so far?

Bye for now, Conan

I started this post almost a week ago but then wasn't sure if I wanted to finish it, because I'm sure most people are over the whole late night fiasco. But then I figured, I wrote it, I might as well share it. So, one more time, and then I'll shut up about the whole thing, at least until Conan gets another show...

I was so sad to watch Conan sign off last Friday night. Almost a year ago I wrote a post about his last Late Night show, and while that was sad in a way, there was at least the guarantee that he would be back in 3 months to host the Tonight Show. This time, nothing is certain, though I am hopeful that by September we'll see him somewhere on TV again.

I'm still annoyed about the whole situation, however. In 2004, NBC made the decision to hand the Tonight Show over to Conan in 2009, and Leno appeared to go along with this and announce it on his show, claiming to want a smooth transition, unlike the Carson/Leno/Letterman debacle in the 90s. Now, of course, people are claiming that Leno was forced out by NBC - well, if that was the case, he should have made his feelings known, like Conan did with his statement, or gone to a competitor. Letterman put it best when he said (and I'm paraphrasing), "When they tell you Conan's going to take over your job, you leave, you don't hang around in the lobby." But Leno did hang around, and NBC decided to stick him at 10:00...and obviously that didn't work. NBC made another poor decision by hatching the plan that Leno would move his show to 11:35 and Conan's Tonight Show would air at 12:05 (the next day, not "Tonight"!). But once again, instead of bowing out gracefully like he said he would 5 years ago, Leno stayed in there after Conan refused to move his timeslot.

Conan said he based his decision on the reasons of the Tonight Show legacy and the potential effect on Jimmy Fallon's ratings, which are completely valid and thoughtful reasons. I just don't get why Leno is willing to come back and look like the bad guy who forced Conan out of a job - the job he appeared to hand over willingly. What is the hold Leno has on NBC that they're willing to just forget Conan - who was the reigning host of the Tonight Show?! - and completely neglect the fact that his entire staff moved from New York to Los Angeles for this...and that they built a brand new studio...? I've never thought Leno was particularly funny - to each his own, but Conan is much more my style. I tolerated Leno before, but I'm done now. I will never voluntarily watch any of his shows again, and if I weren't hooked on so many other NBC shows I'd stop watching the network altogether. I enjoyed this tweet from a mock Twitter account for Jeff Zucker, the NBC president (Twitter has since required this person to add "fake" to his account name.): @jzucker_ceo: New Tonight Show ride at Universal Studios! You stand in line until it's your turn, then you let the last guy go again.

On a positive note, Conan's last Tonight Show had some awesome moments (I know I'm going link crazy in this post, so I won't link to each segment - they should be easy to find on Hulu though!). The montage set to "Surrender" was so much fun - and that song will forever remind me of the opening to his June 1st show when he "forgot" to move to L.A. and ran across the country. The song choices of "Long May You Run" by Neil Young and "Free Bird" by Will Ferrell were perfectly appropriate and meaningful for the occasion, and Tom Hanks was delightful as usual. But I think my favorite part was when Conan gave a little speech at the end, saying how much the Tonight Show experience had meant to him and how much he appreciated the support of his fans. I posted this quote from him on Facebook and got the most comments/likes I've had in quite awhile: "Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen."

Aside from finding Conan completely hilarious, I also think he seems like a really good guy who cares about his staff and his audience. His advice is definitely something I need to take to heart right now, because I can see myself getting cynical about certain things and feeling like "nice guys finish last" is a true statement lately. But I'm sure he'll find success again, and I'll try to follow that lead, in my own way. Whatever happens, I'm looking forward to when Conan can again make me laugh at the end of a long day. See ya in September, CoCo.

Back to the busy TV season!

I'm so excited for this week! After almost 9 months away, Chuck returns tonight for season 3. Season 2 just came out on DVD/Blu-ray on Tuesday, so Shaun and I have been squeezing in an episode or two each night this week. Unfortunately we haven't had quite enough time to make it through the whole season, but it's been a nice little appetizer for the main course. And what a main course it is - 2 hours tonight at 9 EST and an hour tomorrow in its regular timeslot at 8 EST. Watch it!

And then Tuesday night is the season premiere of American Idol! As much as I've enjoyed it since I started watching it in season 4 (the year Carrie Underwood won), I'm prepared for the show to have a different feel this year with Ellen replacing Paula. And based on the rumors about Simon leaving Idol after this year, I'm prepared for it to be the last season. It wouldn't be the same show without him. But that's okay with me, to be honest...I could stand to cut down on my TV schedule! But for now I'm happy to have some distractions to get me through this long, dark, cold part of the year.

However, I am a little annoyed about some TV news that popped up within the past few days - the news that Leno will not be on at 10pm anymore after the Olympics, and that the current proposal is to move him back to 11:35 for a half hour show, pushing Conan's Tonight Show to 12:05 and Jimmy Fallon's Late Night to 1:05. I'm obviously biased because of my affinity for Conan (and my belief that Leno's humor is not nearly as funny), but I think this is an insult to Conan. If Leno's show failed, why should he be rewarded by (mostly) getting his old job back? Why should Conan be punished by being pushed later? Sure, his ratings are lower than Leno's were because of his quirky brand of humor, and maybe NBC jumped the gun by planning his move to the Tonight Show (and Leno's retirement) 5 years in advance, but that's their fault. They gave Conan the contract.

Leno should just quit pulling a Brett Favre and retire already. (Although on that subject, I couldn't stay mad at Brett Favre, seeing how far he's gotten the Vikings this season!) The one advantage to this scenario though is that Leno's move will open up 5 more hours of primetime on NBC, thus making a Chuck renewal more of a sure thing than last year, hopefully. They'll be looking for shows to fill their lineup instead of determining which ones to cut. I really need a job in TV, don't I... I feel like I talk about it way more than a normal person should!

Can I just say...

...I am so excited The Office is back tonight! I am going to be glued to the TV tonight - on NBC we've got SNL Weekend Update Thursday at 8 (and Amy Poehler will be back!), Parks and Recreation at 8:30, Office at 9, and Community at 9:30. I've heard good things about Community, so I'm giving it a shot and risking addiction to yet another TV show. (We've already started to watch Glee and I'm considering trying out Flash Forward...plus there's a 2 hours Heroes premiere next week...yikes!)

Then at 10 I'll be watching Project Runway as usual - and as soon as that's over, Shaun gets the TV to watch Fringe, which we'll have to DVR since that's on at 9 on Fox. And I'll DVR Models of the Runway but watch it another day - gotta get some sleep at least! Especially since we have a busy weekend ahead of us... Shaun and Rich are picking me up early from work and we're heading to DC to visit John and Sarah! Unfortunately we don't have a long weekend there like we did last year, but we'll make the most of it. Hopefully I'll remember to snap a few pictures so I can post them next week!

Okay, so I lied...

...I'm not done talking about TV. (Really, will I ever be?) How could I, when one of my favorite TV personalities ever, Conan O'Brien, returned to the air last night after 3 long months? It was so great to see him back, and I couldn't help but grin as his name came on in the new Tonight Show credits, complete with a jazzed-up version of his old Late Night theme song. I obviously have a soft spot for Conan, especially after our trip to a taping of his show last year, so I really hope people will give him a chance and he'll succeed in his new time slot. I just appreciate his natural humor, goofiness, and the fact that he will do whatever crazy thing it takes to make people laugh. Just as a taste, here is my favorite part of last night's show - the opening:



Speaking of funny videos, I also watched VH1's "Best Week Ever" last week when I heard that Kris and Adam from AI would be making an appearance. Shaun thinks I'm ridiculous for all the Idol stuff I've been hunting down, but that's okay...it's fun. And I think it's slowly dying down. Anyway, Kris is hilarious at the beginning and end of this clip (though I wish Adam's face weren't blocked at the beginning):



"Yeah capes!" LOL. And Adam answers all our burning questions in this one:



Lastly, I would like to ask anyone interested to settle something for my lovely husband and me. I think that this last video is funny...yes, it's odd, frightening, and totally fake, but when it hits about the halfway point, I can't help but start to giggle. Shaun, on the other hand, thinks it's stupid.



What say you, dear reader? And do you like the video-heavy posts or do they get annoying? I like sharing fun stuff I've encountered but if links are better than embedding I'll do that...I aim to please. For now, off for more Conan!

This week on TV... (AI Spoilers!)

How awesome was the American Idol finale? It seems like people have been quite divided this year when it comes to their favorites, but I honestly would have been happy with either guy winning. And it was fun to see the "upset" - Kris was so shocked! I have to admit I teared up a little when he gave his wife a huge hug after his victory song.

I've become a loyal fan of Michael Slezak's Idol recaps and videos on EW.com. (You know, because watching the actual show for two hours isn't enough.) I enjoy pretty much all aspects of his analysis, but this is the non-Idol-related point I appreciated most from his live blog: "...ALSO WHY ARE THE COMMERCIALS 4X LOUDER THAN THE SHOW?" I'm glad it's not just my imagination...it's so incredibly annoying! Sorry for the random rant. Anyway, if you still haven't had enough Idol, Slezak will be posting interviews with the top 3 next week. The previous interviews are fun too - especially Anoop's and Matt's.

In other TV news, Chuck has officially been renewed! It's going to be a long 10 months or so waiting for it to air after the Olympics, but I'm so glad we at least get to see it again. I hope the attention the fan campaign attracted will get even more people interested in the show so it can survive past the 13 episodes that have been ordered at this point. Hey, I actually hand wrote letters to two NBC head honchos in my efforts to help save the show - I'd never even considered doing anything like that before. Cheesy, but it's nice to know that it may have made a difference.

And, as predicted, one last SNL video before the summer break. Celebrity Jeopardy has become a classic, and the most recent edition does not disappoint. (link is here if the video doesn't load)



My favorite throwback moments: the reference to Tom Hanks' "sibilance" mic check from his appearance as an Aerosmith roadie on a Wayne's World sketch many years ago...and the appearance of the fourth contestant.

With that, the TV season closes, so I guess I'd better find something else to do with my time, and something else to blog about. Fortunately, the weather finally seems to be turning consistently warm, so we plan to kick off the summer with plenty of grilling and time outside. Lots of summer birthdays in our families too, so I'm sure I'll be blogging some of the celebration treats! For now, enjoy the Memorial Day weekend!

Spring

I love spring. I'm a sucker for color so I love when everything is in bloom...like this tree near our building.


My favorites though are lilacs...that's got to be one of the best smells in the world. My parents' previous house had a huge lilac hedge in the backyard that would bloom around this time of year, and I loved it. We don't quite have the space in our little townhouse garden for a lilac bush, but I told Shaun that will be my one landscaping requirement whenever we have our own yard.

Spring might be my favorite season...it definitely makes me nostalgic...so pardon my forthcoming rambling. I think of high school, when in mid-May we'd have prom and our big spring band concert. And college, when every year I got to stick around campus for senior week, just hanging out, enjoying the (usually) nice weather, and going to band rehearsals for the graduation events. Of course, it was always tough to say goodbye to each class of graduating seniors - and especially bittersweet to actually graduate. I can't believe it will be 5 years tomorrow since I graduated from ND!

Now that I'm out of school, the only bittersweet part of this time of year is the season finales of all the shows I follow (for example, The Office - WOW what an ending!!!). American Idol usually ends last, so I get sad when I hear that 19 Entertainment/Fremantle Media chime for the last time and wonder what I'm going to do with my evenings. Pathetic, eh?

We do have some fun things to look forward to this summer though: celebrating an anniversary (how we're celebrating, however, is still TBD), maybe a couple weekend trips, and the main event - a trip to Minnesota in July. We'll of course be visiting my family (seeing them for the first time since Christmas!), and we're also bringing along a couple of our baseball-fanatic friends who want to take advantage of their last chance to see a Twins game in the Metrodome before the new outdoor stadium opens next year. I'm excited to show them around my hometown, and I'm excited to meet my cousin's baby! She's due with her first daughter in June. She also has a son who's 16 months - it'll be fun to see how much he's changed since we last saw him.

I'll try to wrap this up, but as a belated nod to Mother's Day, I have to share a cute and funny mom story. I was talking to my mom on Sunday, and she mentioned she had tried a recipe from "that frontier lady site" that I had introduced her to. I said, "You mean Pioneer Woman?" and joked that I might need to get her the Mom Translator. ;-) Don't worry...tomorrow is the season finale (with Will Ferrell hosting, it should be a good one!), so I will soon stop bombarding you with SNL videos.

SNL, JT-style

I haven't written recently because, well, there just hasn't been much interesting stuff going on lately. I wrote a post last week but decided it was entirely too boring and deleted it. Shaun and I had a nice and relaxing weekend, and one of my personal highlights was watching Saturday Night Live hosted by Justin Timberlake. I was a big 'N Sync fan back in the day so I may be biased, but I think he's definitely got some talent in comedy as well as singing. Shaun's not his biggest fan but will even admit he enjoyed Saturday's show. In case you haven't seen them, I thought I'd compile some of the highlights:



I loved how JT made fun of himself (and Britney). This led into...



...the long-awaited (or not) sequel to the ultimate Christmas gift, "D*** in a Box". This time they gave unique presents, Mother's Day style. Didn't have quite the surprise factor of the original, but still pretty clever.



This kind of sketch is becoming a classic for JT - and as my hubby so perfectly said, "everything is funnier with big hands". My favorite is the 2-for-1 of "Implants" and "Mediocre Face".



I figured Jimmy Fallon would make another appearance for the Barry Gibb Talk Show. This song always gets stuck in my head, but I don't care because it amuses me. I was also quite surprised that Justin was the one who broke character first - Jimmy held it together better than he ever did when he was a regular! Ha.

So, there ya go...hope you got some laughs on this lovely Monday.

Monday randomness

What a weekend! We had lots of fun, part in thanks to the beautiful summer-like weather. We haven't hauled the air conditioners up from the basement yet, so it's been pretty warm in our house, but at this point I don't even care because I love being able to have the windows open. (And especially sleeping with them open, on the soft jersey sheets we use in the summer...ahhh.) Anyway, on Friday night we had family game night for the month, and I will soon post the dessert recipe I made for that. On Saturday, we had a nice day with our 13-year-old niece, hanging out and watching a couple of movies, and on Sunday we finally got out for a walk and realized how out of shape we are (in our defense it was pretty hot out, but we were probably sweating a bit more than we should have been). I also went grocery shopping on Sunday, as I usually do, and wow...even though the store was way more empty than it usually is, it seemed everyone had gotten in line at the self-checkout. I know machines can be stubborn, but seriously...sometimes I think there should be an exam before people are allowed to use these things. I guess if that was my complaint for the weekend, it was a pretty good weekend.

Other random stuff I've been thinking about lately... I'm bad at blog comments. I blame a lot of it on the fact that I mainly read blogs through Google reader, which is quite helpful, but once I've read it I'm not likely to go back and look on the actual blog for comments, so sometimes I miss them. Not a big deal, but I feel like I should participate more. I also blame myself for blog ineptitude - it took me quite awhile when I started this blog to realize that I wasn't getting emails when people commented...so if you still read me and happened to comment way back at the beginning, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to ignore you!

Also in the technology vein, I've been debating joining Twitter. With Facebook, blogs, message boards, and all my other regular sites I'm addicted to, part of me knows I really don't need any more online distractions. But, part of me is curious, and it seems like the new "in" thing to do. So right now, I just don't know. Is it worth it? Any thoughts?

Well, for now, I'm going to go watch the season finale of Chuck. With any luck, it's only the season finale, not the series finale - but we'll find out in a week or so if it's renewed. I did my part tonight by buying dinner at Subway, a major sponsor of the show (Give Me My Remote is a TV blog that has been awesome about drumming up support for Chuck). Either way, I'll shut up about it for awhile once the decision has been made - thanks for bearing with me. Time to go!

End of an Era

Most people know by now that Conan O'Brien is taking over for Jay Leno at the Tonight Show in June. It seemed like a long way off when NBC announced it back in 2004, but the year is now here, and tonight is Conan's last Late Night show. Based on some of the comments I've seen on articles about Conan this week, it seems you either love him or hate him. I fully admit my sense of humor can be silly and childish (Shaun always says how easy it is to make me laugh), but I love pretty much everything Conan does. I started watching Late Night in college because that was the only time in my life where I was guaranteed to be awake for the whole show - and I got hooked. When I moved on to the real world, I knew that I shouldn't be staying up that late if I had to get up at 6 or 7 the next morning for work, but all too often I did (as did Shaun...we're night owls...it's a problem) . We've seen so many hilarious moments: Triumph the Insult Comic Dog making fun of Star Wars fanatics, Conan going to Finland and visiting their (female) president that he looks like, the Walker Texas Ranger lever, Barack Obama suggesting Conan as his running mate back in 2006 before he was even officially running... I'll stop for your sake.

We're especially sentimental about the end of Late Night with Conan because we had an awesome experience going to a taping of the show back in June. We were on our honeymoon for Shaun's actual birthday, and I wanted to do something separate and special to celebrate when we got back - so I surprised him with Conan tickets for the following week. We took the train into NYC, made our way to 30 Rock, and got a decent enough spot in line that we had seats in the third row on the aisle! And when Conan came out to chat and warm up the crowd before the taping started, by some luck he ended up picking Shaun to go down and say hi to the drummer (James Wormworth, who was filling in for Max Weinberg at the time), and Shaun got some souvenir drumsticks. On his way back from the stage, Conan stopped him and wanted to compare height - he joked, "You're taller than I am, and I'm 6'9" with the hair." (Not really, lol - Shaun is about 6'8".) Our faces hurt from laughing before the show even started. The rest of it was a blast too - Mike Myers was the first guest, and he ran up and down the aisle before and after the interview, so we both reached to high-five him as he sprinted by. The whole experience was just so much fun!

So, we're a little sad to see Conan leaving Late Night and New York - although it'd be nice to visit California eventually, so maybe we can plan a Tonight Show taping. It's probably a good thing for us that he'll be on an hour earlier starting in June! He might have to change up his quirky style a bit, but he's just so naturally funny that it's hard to imagine someone watching him and not laughing. That's just my biased opinion though! It's going to be weird without Conan for a few months...but on those nights when we're up too late, I suppose we'll give Jimmy Fallon a shot. If you're a night owl too, what are your favorite late night shows? (Or if you're not a night owl, how dumb do you think we are depriving ourselves of sleep?!)

Happy Valentine's Day!

First, let me start off by apologizing to anyone who may have watched Important Things at my suggestion. It wasn't horrible, but definitely wasn't as good as I had hoped...just kinda weird. I'll probably keep watching for awhile to see if the show finds a groove, because I know how funny he can be.

I was busy in the kitchen this week - I sent a belated birthday gift to my dad consisting of Homemade Samoas Bars, which I found on Baking Bites and knew I had to make since my dad loves coconut...and "Spreads", which I saw on Pioneer Woman and thought would make a nice, easy addition to the package. Obviously the bars were a little more time consuming than the spreads, but they were both incredibly tasty. Then I had a night of baking and a night of frosting sugar cookies. Once a month we have a Friday game night with Shaun's family and it gives me a great excuse to make a full batch of treats. Plus he had a work potluck on the 13th, so I doubled the recipe to make plenty for everyone. They were a success - the tray came back empty both times! Maybe not the most professional-looking cookies in the world, but they tasted good.


The recipe, funnily enough, came from a Minnie Mouse Valentine book we had when we were kids. I think in the story she was baking cookies for Mickey, and at the end they had this recipe. We tried it and it became the household favorite (and I apparently have the original plastic cookie cutter that came with it, as shown by my few undecorated "Be My Valentine" cookies).

Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter

2/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

Cream the butter and sugar. Then beat in the egg and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and salt, then mix with the butter/egg/sugar mixture. Chill the dough for 3 hours. Preheat oven to 350.

On a flour-covered surface, roll out the dough to 1/8 inch thickness and cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Bake cookies on a greased cookie sheet for about 8 minutes.

The number of cookies obviously depends on the size of the cookie cutters you use, but if they're all average size, I would estimate 3-4 dozen. In my opinion, they taste the best with a thin layer of buttercream.

For the frosting, I started with 1/4 cup butter and gradually dumped in powdered sugar - I would estimate around 2 cups - enough that when that's all mixed it's still crumbly and powdery. Then I just added milk about a tablespoon at a time until it was at a consistency I liked, and mixed in 1 tsp vanilla (and of course food coloring as desired).

So, back to Valentine's Day - Shaun and I aren't big on the holiday, but we got each other cards and ended up going out to breakfast since we had to get up early to drop his car off for maintenance. We're not usually morning people on weekends, but it was kind of a nice break from routine. We're just having a low-key day, watching a couple movies - even having leftovers for dinner. For dessert we're at least going to attempt our first fondue, a recipe I saw on Shauna's blog. And of course, we'll be watching SNL hosted by Alec Baldwin...that's sure to have some amusing moments! Enjoy the evening, however you do (or don't) celebrate!

Important Things with Demetri Martin

This is not good. I have another TV show to add to my schedule, starting tonight - Important Things (10:30 EST on Comedy Central...I swear I'm not getting paid to push TV shows...I just have no life apparently). I first saw Demetri Martin doing a stand-up appearance on one of the late night talk shows a few years ago, and after seeing his Comedy Central special I bought his CD/DVD set called These Are Jokes. It's definitely become one of my favorites. He's got some of the observational and surreal humor of Mitch Hedberg (whom we lost way, way too soon), the bizarreness of Jack Handey, and occasionally music and even drawing added in for a unique touch. There are a lot of Demetri's jokes to which I cannot do justice without his delivery, but here are a few favorites to give you a taste of what his comedy is like:

"I think it would be cool if you were writing a ransom note in Microsoft Word, and the paper clip popped up and said, 'It looks like you’re writing a ransom note… need some help? You should use stronger language, you can get more money.'"

"I think graffiti is the most passionate literature there is. It's always like, "Bush sucks." "U2 Rules." I wanna make indifferent graffiti: "Toy Story 2 was OK." "I like Gina as a friend, but I'm not sure about taking things further." "'This is a bridge.""

"I saw a sign that said “Watch for children” and I thought, "That sounds like a fair trade, especially if they’re crappy kids.""

So who knows - maybe it's not your thing, and maybe the show won't be as good as the stand-up, but I figure it's at least worth a try. I just like to look for things that will hopefully make me laugh...ya need something to help you forget about the real world for awhile, right?

My least favorite month is over!

Perhaps the worst of winter is through? Oh, I should know better than to say that. But we're making progress. Anyway, here are just a few random thoughts and updates from the last few days...

-I did a fair amount of cooking and baking over the weekend with the Super Bowl and another small gathering of friends, but my favorite thing by far was these cookie dough brownies, topped with the chocolate ganache recommended by Bakerella. If you're a chocolate fan...oh boy. They're good.

-I was kind of underwhelmed with Super Bowl commercials this year, and I also didn't enjoy the 3D stuff as much as I anticipated. Shaun and I only wore our glasses for a few minutes during Chuck, though we still really enjoyed the episode. I got a bit too into it though, because last night I had a dream that someone was mad that I had taken his job (completely not true in real life), and he was trying to set off a bomb in the office. I was investigating boxes and when I identified one with a bomb, I tossed it into my boss's fridge (exactly what they did on Monday's Chuck). When the angry ex-employee showed up at the office, my father-in-law pushed him down the stairs. It was pretty freaky - I spent my waking moments this morning trying to confirm in my fuzzy brain that my address is not posted anywhere online and convince myself that someone was not about to break down our door to come shoot me.

-I'm watching American Idol this season, as I have been regularly since season 4, and I just have to say THANK GOODNESS bikini girl is gone. I didn't think I needed to post a spoiler warning for that because we all knew it was coming. I was telling Shaun tonight that it's not because I'm jealous of her being a beautiful girl on TV - it's just that she's obviously a total b&%$#, and I love Kara even more for coming out and saying that as the girl walked out. I found it quite amusing that she was calling all the other girls in her group fake. But she's happy; she got all her camera time and will likely now get some more undeserved attention. Oh well...I have intentionally not used her real name and will not mention her again.

I guess that's enough for tonight. At least tomorrow's Thursday - the weekend is almost here, and The Office and 30 Rock are on! I swear I do more than watch TV...

Chuck

*Warning - unimportant rambling about a TV show ahead*

I think when I attended Notre Dame the bigwigs that negotiated our football contract with NBC put something in the water. Or maybe they just made sure that the only channel to come in remotely clearly with the rabbit ears required to watch TV in our dorm rooms in those days was the local NBC station. Regardless of how it happened, I became an NBC addict. I watch plenty of shows on other channels, but my favorites are on NBC. I'd be hard-pressed to choose one out of my top three: The Office, 30 Rock, and Chuck.

It seems like a lot of people watch The Office, which is great because it's a hilarious show. 30 Rock has gotten a ton of publicity with all of Tina Fey's appearances and awards over the past several years. But, in my (admittedly biased) opinion, Chuck hasn't gotten the recognition it deserves. If you've never watched it, I'm sure that the premise sounds odd - a regular guy accidentally downloads all the government's secrets into his brain, then has to keep his spy life from his family and friends by pretending to date an attractive, undercover CIA agent and working with an undercover NSA agent at an electronics store...? Riiiight. But it has a perfect mix of action, comedy, and romance (heavier on the action and comedy), plus a lot of fun pop culture references. For example, *MINOR SPOILER* Sgt. Al Powell from Die Hard makes another appearance as a Twinkie-eating cop during a Christmas Eve hostage situation at the Buy More. And to be honest, it's a great show for nerds - where else you would you see someone *ANOTHER MINOR SPOILER* attempt to beat Atari Missile Command to retrieve a hidden code that will disable a terrorist satellite? Okay...it might make more sense if you watch it. If you want to check it out, the official Chuck website at least has all the episodes from this season, and season 1 is out on DVD/Blu-ray or on demand at Amazon.

Or, if you want to jump right in, Chuck is finally back on Monday (at 8pm EST) after the holiday break. And those 3D glasses NBC and Pepsi have been pushing for that Monsters vs. Aliens Super Bowl trailer? You'll get even more use by saving them for the 3D Chuck episode! I'll admit an ulterior motive - I've heard rumors of cancellation, plus Chuck will now be going up against House - so I'm kinda worried that one of our favorite shows is going to disappear after just two seasons. Not that me asking my few readers to watch will make a difference, but the more people who watch, the better - plus I just think you'll enjoy it. Let me know if you start watching - or if you already do!

Potatoes...and a bit of humor - take 2

Please pardon my multiple posts as I learn how to share videos!

Apparently I've already hit a bit of a slump. I have plenty of stuff to blog about, but I haven't been motivated. I think I sorta have those midwinter blahs, and Shaun and I have just been lazy and watching a ton of movies and TV shows on Netflix/Xbox. That whole system takes couch potato-ness to a whole new level. Fortunately, that phrase helps lead into the two recipes I wanted to share tonight - how convenient. Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures of either, because it seems when we have any kind of potatoes they just disappear too fast!

I encountered the first recipe on Heather Drive, a blog I read pretty frequently. Heather started a blog back when we were on the same wedding planning message board, and I got hooked! I admit that I'm very much a person who likes to follow a recipe and measure exact amounts, but somehow I guessed right with this one - at least according to Shaun! And as Heather suggests, we'll experiment with other spices as we will definitely make these a lot. These fries will fill your house with a wonderful aroma as they bake.

Crispy (Baked!) Homefries

2-2.5 lbs. potatoes
Olive oil
Garlic powder
Garlic salt
Black pepper
Oregano
Parsley

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray.
Rinse potatoes and (if desired) peel. (we didn't peel ours) Cut potatoes into small chunks. Be sure to cut them all so they are relatively the same size.
In large bowl, combine potatoes with the rest of the ingredients. Drizzle liberally with olive oil. Add in garlic powder, garlic salt, black pepper, oregano, and parsley (to taste). With your hands, toss potatoes to coat them with herbs and spices.
Pour potatoes onto baking sheet and spread evenly.
Bake for 40-45 minutes or until crispy, flipping with spatula every 15-20 minutes. Baking time will vary depending on size of potatoes and individual oven. If potatoes do not become crispy on their own, throw them under the broiler for an additional 5 minutes after baking. (ours tasted good to us with just the baking)

The second recipe is once again from my mom, and I don't know the original source. Nothing fancy, but they have a pretty good flavor while steering away from the butter that's often used in mashed potato recipes. Of course I like to put butter on top anyway...

Mashed Potatoes

3 lbs cubed peeled baking potatoes
1/2 c reduced fat milk
1/2 c fat-free, reduced-sodium chicken broth
3 tbsp reduced fat sour cream
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

Place potatoes in a saucepan and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 15 minutes or until tender. Drain and return potatoes to pan. Add milk and broth; mash to desired consistency. Cook 2 minutes or until thoroughly heated, stirring constantly. Stir in sour cream, salt and pepper.

So, for the humor - Shaun and I have watched SNL together pretty much every weekend since college...it's just one of those things we do, whether it's good or bad. The post-election shows have been a letdown overall, which is understandable, but the latest episode was so bad we were both asleep for the very end. However, I found a pretty funny impersonation that for some reason wasn't aired. On inauguration eve, regardless of your political affiliation, I think most of us can agree that the video in the post below is just plain funny:

Potatoes...and a bit of humor

Video Recaps | Full Episodes | Webisodes