BBC Book List

I'm going to delete those I don't want to read (if you're curious what they are I'll post them next). I'll share those I've read and those I wannaO and ditch the others. Apparently BBC says the average number on the list that have been read is 6; I'm at 18 with six partials. Though one of my good friends had a cursory total of over 40.


1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
6 The Bible
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman?
10 Great Expectations - Charles DickensO
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas HardyO
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare partial, might not read any I haven't already
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk?
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
20 Middlemarch - George EliotO
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott FitzgeraldO
23 Bleak House - Charles DickensO
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy undecided on this one
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor DostoyevskyO
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
33 Chronicles of Narnia - C.S. Lewis
36 The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe - CS Lewis
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur GoldenO
40 Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne partialO
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins?
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas HardyO
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret AtwoodO
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank HerbertO
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons?
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram SethO
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon?
57 A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
61 Of Mice and Men - John SteinbeckO
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt?
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas HardyO
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie?
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
72 Dracula - Bram StokerO
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill BrysonO
75 Ulysses - James JoyceO
76 The Inferno - DanteO
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome?
78 Germinal - Emile Zola?
80 Possession - AS Byatt?
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell?
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry?
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan DoyleO
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton?
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-ExuperyO
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks?
94 Watership Down - Richard AdamsO
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy TooleO
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute?
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald DahlO

So I count 41 I don't want to read, 25 I do, and 16 I don't know enough about to decide on.

The consumer (in the purest sense of the word) in me likes these kind of lists, but there are many other parts of me that don't allow me to make progress on such things. A whole lotta biting of(I typed it this way and I'm leaving it because it kinda makes more sense) more than I can digest, much less chew. Though I'm changing the hours of my day, as you can see by the time stamp on this post.

Oh, if you have any info/recommendations on this list, do let me know. I'm sure I can try harder on some with a personal recommendation.

My Rejects from the BBC List

Any I should take off this list?

2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR TolkienX
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte BronteX
4 Harry Potter series - JK RowlingX (Sorry Ceri)
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper LeeX
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily BronteX
11 Little Women - Louisa M AlcottX
13 Catch 22 - Joseph HellerX
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du MaurierX
19 The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey NiffeneggerX
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret MitchellX
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas AdamsX
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn WaughX
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck partialX
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth GrahameX
31 Anna Karenina - Leo TolstoyX
32 David Copperfield - Charles DickensX
34 Emma -Jane AustenX
35 Persuasion - Jane AustenX
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled HosseiniX
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De BernieresX
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan BrownX
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia MarquezX
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John IrvingX
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM MontgomeryX
50 Atonement - Ian McEwanX
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane AustenX
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia MarquezX
62 Lolita - Vladimir NabokovX
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice SeboldX
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre DumasX
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen FieldingX
71 Oliver Twist - Charles DickensX
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson BurnettX
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace ThackerayX
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles DickensX
83 The Color Purple - Alice WalkerX
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave FlaubertX
87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. WhiteX
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch AlbomX
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre DumasX
100 Les Miserables - Victor HugoX

Blue Bunny v. Breyer's Ice Cream Throwdown

It was Blue Bunny's chocolate ice cream versus Breyer's Extra Creamy Chocolate. Usually ice cream is made extra creamy by whipping air into it (the industry term is "overrun"). This is why I preferred Blue Bunny and its fudgier consistency (like a nice fudgcicle). You pretty easily identify overrun ice cream by grabbing the carton in your hand, if it doesn't feel heavy for its size they've probably added air to it. I know some prefer the smooth mouth feel of this stuff, but I don't.

As far as the chocolate tastes, they were different, but I didn't necessarily prefer one over the other. Breyer's seemed to have more of a roasted chocolate flavor, but that could be because it was burned from being in the freezer longer.

Video from Concert

Sara Bareilles - Nice Dream from Daniel Murauskas on Vimeo.

My sister took this with her camera. I apologize for the orientation. Sara refused to share the name of the song or the group, but a quick search revealed it is Nice Dream from Radiohead.

Drinks All Around

Tonight was Iconoclastic Cocktails night at the Bourbon Theatre.

I started with the Violet(te) Fizz, mainly because I wanted to try the creme de violette to see if I want to get a bottle, mainly for Aviations. It was a nice drink but the violet was kinda lost in the gin and lemon juice, and while the egg white added a nice head to my cocktail, it didn't change the mouth feel too much from a Tom Collins.

Next was the Trinidad Swizzle, with an entire ounce of Angostura Bitters (for the uninitiated, this is a lot, since most drinks that include any bitters call for one or two dashes). I really liked this one. It had a wonderful spice to it and the freshly grated nutmeg and mint were nice garnishes.

After that was the Toronto. It had Fernet-Branca, rye, and simple syrup. I'd never had Fernet-Branca before, which is why I wanted to try this one, and I really liked it. Ian, the bartender, said the mint came from the immense amounts of saffron in it. Surprise, surprise.

Last was Butter Beer, from a 16th century recipe. It was fine, if you like hot butter and beer together. I'm sure it doesn't hold a candle to Tom and Jerry's, though I've yet to have one of those.

It was a wonderful night of drinks, and I look forward to going there again to expand my cocktail palate.

Officially Off the NaBloPoMo Wagon

I loved her shoes.

Yes, we were quite close.

King of Anything

At Sara Bareilles

I'm in Lawrence, KS with my sister. Pictures to come. Whew, I didn't think I'd get a post in today. Thank goodness for phones.

Loyalties

Tonight's Husker game was only on pay-per-view because they're going against a team they were favored by 35 points to beat. Instead of shelling out the 40 bucks to watch it at home, I figured I'd go to one of the many bars carrying the game downtown.

I hadn't let Merle out for his ten minutes of fresh air, so I thought I'd do that before I headed downtown. I also needed to sweep the leaves off our front steps and sidewalk, and this is when Merle took his opportunity and went who knows where. I walked around the immediate area for a half hour after losing track of him, but the game was fast approaching. So after making two or three passes and not seeing him I went to the game, hoping he would turn up at the steps when I came back three hours later.

And he did. Part of my distress was that earlier in the week he'd run across the street which he normally doesn't do and was quite reluctant to be wrangled by me when I followed after to get him. So I wasn't sure he'd come back. I'm not going to take this incidence as a reason to trust him outside alone though. I can do without the drama, and as much as he is sometimes a nuisance, I'd be sad to lose him.

Happy Birthday Karen.

I got home from work with a message from Karen inviting me to her birthday gathering at Tokyo Grill. I'd never had teppanyaki before and it was fun.

Never Let Me Go

I just got back from Never Let Me Go at The Ross. I really liked it. The main protagonist is Carey Mulligan, who is still great. Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield are also wonderful. It is directed by Mark Romanek, mainly of music video reknown and One Hour Photo, and based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro. I've previously read and watched The Remains of the Day, which I also really enjoyed (the book more than the film).

It is about three students who were created, along with their peers, for organ donation. There's a love triangle, and the emotion associated with having no control over your life (and its completion). I love the pacing of the film. We see Cathy H., Ruth, and Tommy D. at 11, 18, and 27. I found it a wonderful testament to Romanek and the casting director that the core of each character is present in the child actors and seamlessly transitions to their aged selves.

The character I marveled the most at was Tommy. He had more than innocence, more than simpleness, he had purity. I found it very easy to involve (turn with) myself with his life and emotions because of their pristine nature.

Another donor was played by Domhnall Gleeson. I've never seen that name before and I like it. And now I see I've already enjoyed his father's acting many times. Another name that caught my eye in the credits was Lloret, though I forget if there was one 't' or two.

I'm trying to read a life of Vince Lombardi right now, but the novel is definitely on my list.

In other news, I had some of those cheese buttons warmed in cream in my slow cooker with a spot of honey. The magic of heating the cream is that it thickens like a clotted cream and makes a very nice sauce. The reheated buttons also become more cheesy as the cottage cheese melts a bit.

Drat!

I missed a day. Here's some pictures of the pumpkin cheese buttons. They didn't taste much of pumpkin, but they're a nice color and there's more nutrition in them now.

Dry ingredients: 4 cups flour (increased to account for added moisture of pumpkin), 1.75 tsp baking soda, 2.5 tsp baking powder, 2 tsp salt (this seems low on salt, but Tbls. would be too much)



Wet ingredients: 9 cups dry curd cottage cheese, four eggs (added one for consistency), 2 cups sour cream, one can pumpkin puree



Combined. It is a pretty stiff dough.






Here they are baked (350 degrees for 23 minutes). The final touch is heating them up in cream, ideally in the oven at 300 for 20 minutes, but for the potluck, I used my slow cooker which works okay if you start it an hour ahead of time.

Gourmand for Punishment

Tomorrow there is a potluck at work with the theme of Fall foods. I'm going to make my cheese buttons, but also mix in some pumpkin to make them more autumnal. Adding this moisture will require more flour and more leavening. We'll see how it turns out.

The main problem is that I haven't started yet, so I'll be baking into the night, which means less sleep and a grumpier me. Man am I a putz.

Conan

I'm gonna try to "live" blog during the premiere of Conan. I've recorded it and I'll typy-type my thoughts while watching it.

It starts with "Last Season on Conan" and Conan refusing on a phone conversation to move to 12:05 then he's shot like Sonny Corleone at the studio entry gate. Then he's sitting in a wife beater with 14 kids running around and his wife telling him to get a job, then he is not hired at Sterling, Cooper, Draper, Price by Jon Hamm. Then he's doing a monologue as a clown at a kids party. About ready to jump off a bridge, Larry King with wings tells him not to do it.

Nice colorful opening credits with the guests and Andy Richter announcing. It is now Jimmy Vivino and the Basic Cable Band. Requisite string dance. Much applause, he hugs an audience member. "Welcome to my Second Annual First Show." "People asked me why I named the show Conan. I did it so I'd be harder to replace." They're having a hard time keeping his hair in frame. Clip of masturbating bear on a local news channel shaking up the lotto balls in his underwear while the anchor man draws them out. I like the set so far, though the desk area is dark during the monologue.

They come back from the monologue with Andy in the chair next to the desk with Conan. They're now taking a moment to look at the set. They have a nice view of the ocean with a full 3 dimensional moon moving by remote. It's now wobbling. His summer low point was the Conan O'Brien mask that due to legal reasons was called the Ex-Talk Show Host. After putting them on, Andy says it's authentic because the inside smells like tears.

Guest video from Ricky Gervais. He congratulates Conan on the new gig while offering condolences for what happened previously. After his message, he looks off camera and says that while he's here he might as well bang out a few more. "Hi Conan, sorry things didn't work out at TBS, but I'm sure Food Network is a great fit for you." You know Conan, Food Network didn't know how well they had it. You're gonna be great on Good Morning Dayton. Don't worry about Dayton, now you have the national audience you deserve, and I'll be tuning in just as soon as I get satellite radio.

Third segment recaps the voting contest for first guest. "The deliberately rigged results are in and" it's the curator of the nutcracker museum. She just paraded through with a guy pushing a giant nutcracker behind her and out the studio.

Second first guest is Seth Rogen promoting Green Hornet, which doesn't open til January. Second guest is Lea Michelle, the brunette from Glee.

Music guest Jack White. Conan performs a song with Jack, a rockabilly type thing. Very fun. They apparently recorded a live album together in Nashville this summer.

Jack gets a desk interview after the song.

"We'll see you tomorrow. Byeeverybodybye."

Friends

Tonight I went over to a friend's to try some scotches, two Ardbegs, he'd been wanting to share. I also ended up trying a great and different bourbon, and a likewise tequila.

The Ardbegs were similar in that they were both cask strength but one was aged longer in sherry and bourbon barrels.

The bourbon is Booker's, and drinking it neat it just evaporates on your tongue and leaves wonderful flavors behind.

The Milagro añejo tequila was unlike any I'd had before (given I haven't really had many). It was fruity on the nose and so very smooth on the palate. Plus it has a fun bottle.

I eat too.

Not only do I lay on my couch, I also eat.

Just now I finished two Red D'Anjou pear and Muenster grilled cheese sandwiches. They were great. I'd have a picture but the SD card is missing from my camera. I blame my sister.

Not too complicated; just slice some pear to put between two slices of cheese in the middle of buttered bread, and grill on a low to medium heat pan for a minute and a half on one side and a minute on the other.

Muenster is a pretty mild cheese and the pear isn't earth shattering in flavor either. but together it is nice to have the juicy fruit cut through what can be a pretty heavy snack. I've tried it with apple too which is nice. More extreme flavors like sharp Cheddar and Granny Smith apple should make for a tastier experience.

Brie and pear are a common combination, but I'm not experienced enough with brie flavors to make a judgment.

Branded

I'm kinda particular about a few mundane items.

I prefer Post Raisin Bran to any other.

Charmin Basic is my toilet paper of choice.

Hellman's Mayonnaise. On this one the important issue is mayo vs. Miracle Whip, but I like Hellman's so I'll stick with that.

Locally I prefer Blue Bunny Ice Cream, not over Haagen-Daas but over Kemp's, Breyer's, and others of that ilk.

American Crew Citrus Mint Conditioner. I was introduced to this from a previous hair stylist, and just loved the cooling mint on my head.

Where do your brand loyalties rest (cop-out to avoid the lay-lie solipsism)?

Monitor Lizard Part II

The other monitor I lay in front of for as many hours as the TV is the computer.

My routine is Hotmail, facebook (first the status updates and "clever comments," then that stupid game Mafia Wars), then Google Reader and the aforementioned 122 (check that 123 now) RSS feeds.

I've organized the chaos a bit. The main folders are Bears, Beer, Blogs, Dailies, Food, Media, Sports, and Words. Bears, Blogs, Food, and Sports (mainly the Huskers) are self explanatory.

Beer has some beer bloggers (I've trimmed this one quite a bit after some overzealous subscribing.) but includes cocktail blogs now too.

My two Dailies are Delancey Place, which provides excerpts of non-fiction books, and Pearls Before Swine, the comic strip.

Media is a bit of a hodge podge: AdFreak, FILMDetail, The Nerdist, The Comic's Comic.

Words is a broader category too. I have Ben Zimmer's columns for the NY Times and Visual Thesaurus, Nameberry, Frittinancy (mainly about names in the business world), and The Rosa Parks of Blogs (this is a fun one).

Monitor Lizard Part I

They were right when they said DVRs would change the way you watch tv. Now, I watch a lot more at any hour of the day. Before, I watched a lot at very scheduled hours of the day.

I forget why I added HBO to my DirecTV package. I think it was for Flight of the Conchords and then they kept adding great new programming like The Pacific, and I started watching True Blood, and How to Make It in America. Now I watch Boardwalk Empire, Eastbound & Down, and Bored to Death. I added Showtime again for Dexter and that's it for that one, though in January they'll have Californication again. I'm a big fan of AMC too with Breaking Bad, Mad Men (which I just started watching this Spring, so I'm three seasons late to that party), Rubicon (which has two actors from The Pacific), and they just started The Walking Dead (which I checked out the first 10 graphic novel volumes of to get in on that).

Then for Network TV I watch Rules of Engagement, Modern Family, The Office, and Fringe. Though I also record 30 Rock and SNL. I forgot to mention the FX shows It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and The League (and not airing now but thoroughly enjoyed was Justified).

My reality competition watching is limited to cooking shows Top Chef, Top Chef: Just Desserts, and The Next Iron Chef.

Next is Adult Swim/Comedy Central. I watch Venture Bros., Metalocalypse, Mary Shelley's Frankenhole, and Nick Swardson's Pretend Time on Comedy Central.

For sports, I have my daily Pardon the Interruption on ESPN, my weekly Bo Pelini Coach's Show and Big Red Wrap Up, and then the Huskers' (even if I attend the game, I record it) and Bears' game, plus any other intriguing football match ups.

A quick tally gives me around 17.5 hours of programming plus six for the two requisite football games and more for any others I catch. So this averages out to 4 hours a day of TV each week (though I do fast forward through commercials which shrinks that number negligibly).

In Concert

Last week my sister came down from SD and we went to Mumford & Sons in Denver. The first opener was King Charles. He performed that song and started with an a capella performance of The Brightest Light Has the Darkest Shadow that captivated the crowd. I preferred his performance (say that three times fast) of Love Lust at the concert since it was just him and his guitar. but you get the gist of the song, and the wonderful line "If your beauty is a fortress, then my love will be the moat."

Mumford and Sons was as great as I had hoped they would be. It was funny how great all their songs were that I forgot until they played it as the encore that they hadn't played The Cave in the regular set. It was also encouraging that their newest songs (including the one they "just worked out during sound check") were of the same high quality, so I'm anticipating their next album already.

The Blogging Month

I hate, hate, hate the insult douche or douche bag or douchebaggery. I don't pretend to know anything about actual douches. I'm fairly certain they are a part of feminine hygiene. But I understand the insult to imply that one of the worst things you can be is the waste of said feminine hygiene process. My guess is that that waste is not a pleasant thing at all, and maybe I'm out of line and confused, but to link such a crude insult to females seems to me to be an insult to those females as well.

The only thing related to males I could see as a parallel would be smegma, yet you don't see this as an insult nearly as pervasive as douche and its kin. Sure, you'll get the occasional "dick cheese" crack, but not all over the media like douche is.

So help me on this. Am I misguided? Am I forcing that implication there, revealing my own confused view of women? Or am I kinda close on this thing?