This Might Be Getting Out Of Hand

Here's a treat for you, my loyal blog readers. Early access to my latest cooking video! The facebook riff-raff will have to wait.

I'm glad I finally got this one done. Since I now only eat food that I've prepared in front of a camera, I was getting hungry.

Cooking Is Hard

I enjoyed making the video about burgers yesterday so much, I figured I'd do the same with my lunch today. With enough of these, soon your skills in the kitchen will be almost as good as mine. 

Make Your Own Hamburger Night

I declared today to be "National Make Your Own Hamburger Night" and then declared my house an independent nation.  Now, I don't make no fancy burgers.  Basic ingredients are usually ground beef and heat.  But I got a little nutty tonight and added a few extras and I also decided to document it.

Ingredients for tonight's burger: 1.4 kg of ground beef, 1 non-expired egg and garlic powder.  Mix them all together by hand and make a nice looking patty.

Divide into however many burgers you want.  I did 3.  Flatten, then barbecue.  It's important that the burger gets thoroughly cooked, but not burnt.  So, I suggest a longer cooking time at a lower temperature.  Also, important when barbecuing any meat... diamond grill marks.

Looks like this burger can join the diamond club. <>

Then, melt some cheese, toast a bun and add your favourite toppings.  Easy!  Even for me.

Yeah, I also make it into a video.  My goal was to keep in under 2 minutes, as everyone's attention span (including mine) is really short when it comes to internet videos... but I could barely keep it under 7.  Enjoy anyway.

One thing I learned that after using Windows Live Movie Maker for the first time, it's nowhere near as good as iMovie.  I'm no lover of Apple and it stings a bit to say that, but it's so very true.

Update: Mutant Plant Cut Down To Size

So, it turns out that the giant stalk is part of the rhubarb plant after all.  Upon advice from people who use terms like "gone to seed", I have cut the flowering stem off.

Giant Mutant Plants (tm) still have a long way to go for world domination if they can't defend themselves from scissors.

Creepy Giant Plants

I'm trying to figure out exactly what's going on in my garden.  I don't know what's been planted and what's a weed.  There's a patch of rhubarb in the corner of one garden behind a house... no big deal.  But today I notice this GIANT stalk shooting out of the middle of it.  It must be growing fast because the last time I looked there a few days ago, there was no such stalk.

So, I'm just throwing this out there: What the crap is this?  Is it a normal part of a rhubarb plant or (more likely) an alien lifeform looking to conquer us via our most unsuspecting living organisms... plants.

That and I find creepy giant plants to be creepy as hell.

World Conquest Across The World

The following is an example of technology at its finest.

This morning I played a game of Risk with two friends. No big deal, right? Did I mention that my friends were in Halifax and Japan, while I sat on my couch in Kitchener? After a week or so of figuring it out, thanks to an innocuous photo I posted on Facebook, Sean, Joe and I played Risk Factions over Xbox Live. Using the world map and classic rules, we were able to squeeze out 2 matches while it was morning here and nearly midnight for Sean. It worked so well, that we may make this a regular occasion. I love technology today.

Oh yeah... and Sean won the first game and Joe the other. But that's not important.

Round 1 Playoff Predictions

After seeing Dan's predictions he posted on Facebook (what, is your blog no longer good enough?), it reminded me to post my own.  Because apparently I still care enough.  So there's that.

In the East, New York over Ottawa in 5 - For a team that was predicted by many to finish dead last, Ottawa has done surprising well for themselves. I'd like to see them surprise more and move onto the second round, but these predictions aren't who I want to win, it's who I think will win.  The Rangers are just too good this year.

Boston over Washington in 4 - Because Washington is just terrible this year.

New Jersey over Florida in 6 - Just because you're the 3rd seed doesn't mean you only got there by winning the southeast division. You're the smartest kid on the short bus.

Philadelphia over Pittsburgh in 7 - This series is going to be all kinds of awesome.

In the West, Los Angeles over Vancouver in 7 - Because of a hot goaltender. Although I kind of want to see Vancouver make it to the second round just to be beat by the Blackhawks.

St. Louis over San Jose in 5 - Because where did the Blues come from this season?

Chicago over Phoenix in 7 - Followed by the Coyotes booking plane tickets to Quebec City for next season.

Detroit over Nashville in 6 - Because, flip a coin?  I have no insight into this series, but... it's Nashville, come on.

Free Movie Network!

I decided to engage in a bit of cord shaving today, reducing my cable TV package from the VIP to Digital Plus (and thus saving about $15 per month).  The only channels I'll really miss are Sportnet One and The Score, but those alone aren't worth $15.  I got no hassle from the guy on the phone, and in fact he ended up offering me a free trial to the Movie Network for 2 months (which I asked to be automatically disabled after the trial, but I'll be sure to check on that). So, that's pretty sweet.  Not that I tend to sit down and watch a bunch of movies, but it's perfect timing for being able to watch the second season of Game of Thrones. You know... legitimately.

One day I'll cord cut, but live streaming of sports has to improve. Have you seen the quality of the Hockey Night In Canada stream? Atrocious! On the other hand, the TSN stream of curling is quite good quality (which will be the last bit of praise I'll be giving TSN).

I'll gladly pay for the things I want to watch.  But I won't pay for the things I don't watch just because of an arbitrary bundle for much longer.

More IME Too?

First it was Big Wreck coming out with a great new song and album, and now I just found today that I Mother Earth has also regrouped and released a new song, "We Got The Love". I'm listening to it for the first time on the band's website as I type this. I'm loving what I'm hearing. Also, my self of 10 years ago is loving this resurgence of some of my favourite band.

John Carter

I went to see the movie "John Carter" tonight with Patrick. All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed it. It should do better at the box office than it ultimately will, but that's because it's a textbook example of terrible marketing. I barely knew about the movie and it's supposed to be Disney's huge blockbuster franchise to replace "Pirates of the Caribbean". But with a name as generic as "John Carter", it's not surprising that it has eluded public conscienceness. Apparently some brilliant marketing people thought that if they kept the original title "John Carter of Mars" it would scare off the female demographic.

Interestingly enough, it's based off a novel written back in 1917 called "A Princess of Mars". You can tell that elements of it have inspired many science-fiction works since then.

It was a large series of novels, so I would suspect that the idea was that there would definitely be sequels. Hopefully they can make enough money to continue the series... and hopefully without the dedication to the memory of Steve Jobs at the end. What was that about?