Recipe Tuesday: Quick Banana Nut Bread

This recipe comes from Instructables. I've made it several times - whenever I have bananas about to go bad, I stick them in the freezer to save for later.

Ingredients:
1 box yellow cake mix
1 package Jell-O Instant Banana Cream Pudding & Pie Filling
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 ripe bananas, mashed
4 eggs
1 cup chopped pecans (I used some leftover crushed hazelnuts)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients together, then pour into two large greased loaf pans. Bake for 45 minutes, or until a knife/uncooked piece of spaghetti inserted into the center comes out clean. Et voila! Very simple, and very yummy.

Weekly Geeks: Tuesday's Quote

Today's quote comes from Watchmen, by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons:

Laurie Juspeczyk: Hey, you remember that guy? The one who pretended to be a supervillain so he could get beaten up?
Dan Dreiberg: Oh, You mean Captain Carnage. Ha ha ha! He was one for the books.
Laurie: You're telling me! I remember, I caught him coming out of this jeweller's. I didn't know what his racket was. I start hitting him and I think "Jeez! He's breathing funny! Does he have asthma?
Dan: Ha Ha Ha. He tried that with me, only I'd heard about him, so I just walked away. He follows me down the street - broad daylight, right? He's saying "PUNISH me!" I'm saying "No! Get lost!"
Laurie: Ha Ha Ha. What ever happened to him?
Dan: Well, he pulled it on Rorschach, and Rorschach dropped him down an elevator shaft.
Laurie: PHAAA HA HA HA! Oh, God, I'm sorry, that isn't funny, Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!
Dan: Ha Ha Ha! No, I guess it's not...
Laurie: Ahuh. Ahuhuhuh...Jeez, y'know, that felt Good. There don't seem to be that many laughs around these days.
Dan: Well, what do you expect? The Comedian is Dead.

Movie Reviews

Like millions of other people this weekend, I attended the opening night of the Watchmen movie. As a fan of the graphic novel, I have been waiting for this for FOREVER, and I was not disappointed. Quick synopsis of the movie, for anyone who's been living under a rock:

Watchmen is set in an alternate 1985 America in which costumed superheroes are part of the fabric of everyday society, and the "Doomsday Clock" - which charts the USA's tension with the Soviet Union - is permanently set at five minutes to midnight. When one of his former colleagues is murdered, the washed up but no less determined masked vigilante Rorschach sets out to uncover a plot to kill and discredit all past and present superheroes. As he reconnects with his former crime-fighting legion - a ragtag group of retired superheroes, only one of whom has true powers - Rorschach glimpses a wide-ranging and disturbing conspiracy with links to their shared past and catastrophic consequences for the future. Their mission is to watch over humanity... but who is watching the Watchmen? - from imdb

There's a lot going on in the graphic novel, and the movie managed to capture almost everything perfectly. There were a few changes (the ending was a big one, but I liked it), but the majority of the story translates really well. I was especially happy with the characters. Rorschach, my personal favorite, is just amazingly deranged, and Dan/Nite Owl is lovably shlubby. Other things I liked: the music (Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah," Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A Changin'," Jimi Hendrix's "All Along the Watchtower," and Nena's "99 Luftballons"), the opening title sequence, and Bubastis. The only thing I didn't really like is the fight sequences. One of the most amazing things about these characters is that they don't have superpowers - they just work out a lot and have no fear. In the movie, it seemed like they have speed and super-strength, which confused my movie-going friends who hadn't read the comic yet. But that was a minor quibble, really, when compared with the rest of the movie. It's a bit long (almost 3 hours), but worth every second. I can't wait for the DVD to come out, because I know I missed a bunch of stuff in the background (I caught the graffiti welcoming Vietnam as the 51st state, but I'm sure there was more) and I'm looking forward to watching the movie again.



Another movie that I saw recently and really enjoyed was Coraline. I've been meaning to write this review for forever. I had already planned on seeing the movie just because it looked amazing, but watching and reviewing it is part of my Dream King Challenge. Synopsis from the back of the book:

When Coraline explores her new home, she steps through a door and into another house just like her own...except that it's different. It's a marvelous adventure until Coraline discovers that there's also another mother and another father in the house. They want Coraline to stay with them and be their little girl. They want to keep her forever.

Coraline must use all of her wits and every ounce of courage in order to save herself and return home.

Coraline is a visually stunning movie. It was filmed using stop-motion animation and 3D, and everything (including the tiny, hand-knitted sweaters!) was created by hand. It remains (mostly) faithful to the Gaiman book that it's based on: Coraline is feisty and the Other Mother is appropriately creepy. The biggest change (at least, the one that bothered me the most) is the introduction of Wybie, Coraline's neighbor in her new house. He's an okay guy, and I can't really say why I disliked him without giving away the ending. But that minor detail aside, this is an amazing movie. I loved the 3D, especially when Coraline opens the doorway to the Other house. The other characters (mother, father, cat, and crazy neighbors) are all great. It's a semi-scary movie, but I'm sure even little kids would be delighted by it. I found it completely charming, and highly recommend it.

Weekly Geeks: Monday's Quote

"The more I know of the world, the more I am convinced that I shall never see a man whom I can really love. I require so much!"
- Jane Austen, Sense and Sensibility

Review: Rock Bottom

Title: Rock Bottom
Author: Michael Shilling
Genre: Fiction
Published: 09 January 2009
Pages: 400
Rating: 8 / 10
Challenges: N/A, but I did receive it through the LIbraryThing ER Program
Awards: none

Synopsis: (from the back cover)

Once upon a time, Blood Orphans were the next big thing. They had a fat recording contract, the swagger of the gods, and cheekbones that could cut glass. They were the darlings of the LA music scene. They were locked and loaded for rock-and-roll greatness.

And then everything...went...wrong. The singer became a born-again Buddhist who preached from the stage. The bass player's raging eczema turned his hands into a pulpy mess. The drummer, a sex addict tormented by the misdeeds of his porn-king father, was losing his grip on reality. And the guitar player - the only talented one - was a doormat cowed by the constant abuse of his bandmates.

Set in Amsterdam on the last day of Blood Orphans' final tour, this novel tells the raucous story of a band - and their heroically coked-out female manager - trying to get in one last shot at fame's elusive bull's-eye. Rock Bottom is a pitch-black comedy, a wild ride on the crazy train of outrageous misfortune, and a bighearted paean to the power of dreams. It heralds the debut of a fierce new voice in American fiction.

My Review: Full disclosure: I almost stopped reading this book in the first chapter. See, the first few pages are narrated by the bassist (the one with eczema) and the first chapter is an obscenity-laden quest for him to find some relief from his itching hands. It's really gross, and I immediately disliked the guy. Luckily for me, the narrative shifts several times in this novel (all the guys in the band get a turn to tell their side of the story, as does Joey, the manager), so I didn't have to deal with him for very long.

The novel takes place over the course of a day in Amsterdam. It's Blood Orphans last show, although not all of them realize it yet. They've been dropped from their label, a major magazine has described them as racist, and they're basically seen as a joke. As each band member takes his turn as narrator, we learn how the band got to where it is today. We also see a lot of fighting (mostly with each other, although there is an assault on a local protester - but he really had it coming), a little romance (true love, for real) and, of course, sex, drugs, and rock-and-roll. It's an interesting story, and I really liked the way that Shilling shifted the narration. It made me - well, not sympathize, exactly, but definitely allowed me to understand and appreciate what the characters had gone through in the past and how that shaped their present actions. None of them are terribly likable, except for maybe Adam, the talented and beaten-down guitarist. He's the one I was really rooting for, but I ended the novel feeling more like Darlo (the sex-crazed drummer with Daddy issues) was the hero.

All in all, it's a pretty good book. By the time I got to the last 100 pages, I was reading into the wee hours of the night just to get finished. I've always been a little fascinated by the music industry, so this was a nice (fictional) peek into that world, and I enjoyed reading about the characters, even if I didn't like them much. Does that make sense? Either way, the characters make this book. Shilling did an excellent job of giving each an individual voice. They were five completely different personalities, and they all came alive for me while I was reading. I wouldn't recommend it for the faint of heart, but I think it's a great book.

Other stuff: There's a Blood Orphans website, where you can read more about the band and the book and hear music based on the lyrics in the novel. It's actually pretty good!

Shilling's next novel is set in Victorian England, and I'm really looking forward to reading it.

Other Reviews:

If you have reviewed this book as well, leave me a message in the comments and I'll link to your review.

Weekly Geeks: A Quote A Day

This week's Weekly Geeks challenge is:

You may want to come up with a theme, such as favorite passages from books, author quotes, political quotes, quotes about books or reading, humorous quotes, whatever. Or you may not want a theme at all; maybe you just want to gather up seven assorted quotes that appeal to you. You may want to start each of your posts of the week with a quote, or you may want to give quotes posts of their own in addition to your regular posts. It’s all up to you!

Signing Mr Linky this week means you’re committing to posting a quote each day for a full week, starting on the day you sign up. You can postdate your quote posts so they appear automatically if you can’t get to your blog each day.

The last time we did this as a WG challenge, I only managed to post three. This time, thanks to the power of Blogger's auto-post function (which is acting up for me recently; it didn't post this week's Recipe Tuesday, for example), I hope to have 7 days of quotey goodness.

First up, this little gem from Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird:

"Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing."
Some people might say that comparing reading to breathing is a little extreme. I, however, am not one of those people.

Mini-Review: The Taffy Sinclair Series

Did anyone else read the Taffy Sinclair books when they were in elementary school? I started thinking about them again after reading a few reviews on The Dairi Burger, one of my favorite book blogs. There are eleven books in total:

1. The Against Taffy Sinclair Club
2. Taffy Strikes Again*
3. Taffy Sinclair, Queen of the Soaps*
4. Blackmailed by Taffy Sinclair*
5. Taffy Sinclair and the Romance Machine Disaster*
6. Taffy Sinclair and the Melanie Makeover
7. Taffy Sinclair and the Secret Admirer Epidemic*
8. Taffy Sinclair- Baby Ashley- and Me*
9. The Truth About Taffy Sinclair*
10. Taffy Sinclair Goes to Hollywood
11. Nobody Likes Taffy Sinclair

and I managed to find seven (*) of them at this awesome used book store I discovered a few months ago. Reading them again was like going back in time.

The premise: Jana Morgan, Beth Barry, Christie Winchell, Katie Shannon, and Melanie Edwards are all best friends, and they all hate Taffy Sinclair, the prettiest and snobbiest girl in their fifth grade class. And...that's about all you need to know. The titles pretty much speak for themselves, I think, and you can probably imagine the sorts of shenanigans junior high kids in the 80's can get up to.

I loved this series as a kid, and reading it now, I can't imagine why. Jana, the narrator, is annoying and whiny. Her friends are all one-dimensional: Beth is loud and dramatic, Christie is the goody-two-shoes principal's daughter, Katie is the liberal feminist, and Melanie is the quiet fat girl. Seriously, more time is spent talking about her weight than anything else about her. It was a little depressing. On the other hand, Taffy is just awesome. I felt more sympathy for her than anyone else in these books (even before The Truth About Taffy Sinclair, which is her side of the story), and I thought she was more complex than the other characters.

Overall, it's not the greatest series in the world, but it's a fun, quick read. I read these for the YA Reading Challenge, and I'm tempted to count them all as one book because they're so short. I'm still on the lookout for the other in the series.

Dewey's Knit-A-Long Update

I finished one of the projects I started in honor of Dewey, and now I'm working on another.

First up, I finished the shawl I was making for my mom. Here's the completed product, modeled by my lovely roommate Tiff:

I really liked the pattern on this one, because it was so unusual. Mom's birthday is March 15th, and this is one of her gifts from me. She asked for a shawl after I made her a scarf for Christmas, so I think she'll like it. If I have the time, I'm going to try to make a pin or broach to go with it.

And for my next project: Did anyone else watching the Coraline movie fall absolutely in love with that little octopus/kitty/squid toy in her "other" bedroom? Because I did, and I immediately began thinking of ways to make one for myself. Luckily, so did another crafty blogger, and she posted her pattern here. This is what I've got so far:

Isn't it cute? I mean, considering it's only 3/4 finished and all...

It's like my dreams came true!

Ladies and gentlemen, we have SNOW!
 
 
 
 

Sunday Salon 01 March 2009: Challenge Updates

For this week's Sunday Salon, I decided to update the various challenges that I'm working on. It seemed like a nice way to wrap up February.

1. The 1% Well-Read Challenge ended yesterday. I read 5 out of 10 books (and 1/2 of The Last Temptation of Christ) and posted 4 reviews. I wanted to do better with this one, but time got away from me. Michelle's hosting (Another) 1% Well-Read Challenge, but I don't think I'm going to sign up, just because I have so many other challenges for the year that I'm already behind on.

2. Book Awards II Challenge ends June 1. So far, I've read 5 out of 10 books and posted 3 reviews.

3. 100 Shots of Short is a perpetual challenge, but I set a personal goal to finish by the end of the year. So far, I've read 8 stories and posted 2 reviews.

4. The Well-Seasoned Reader Challenge ends March 31. So far, I've read 0 out of 3 books. Eep!

5. The YA Book Challenge ends December 31. I've read 14 out of 12 books (yay!) and posted 0 reviews (boo!).

6. The A-Z Reading Challenge ends December 31. I've read a bunch of books, but haven't updated my reading table for this challenge.

7. The Dewey's Books Reading Challenge ends December 31. I haven't read any of the books, but I have been participating in the mini-challenges.

8. The Year of Reading Dangerously Challenge ends December 31. I have read one book for this challenge and posted 0 reviews.

9. The World Citizen Challenge ends December 31. I'm currently reading one book for this challenge.

10. The Graphic Novels Challenge ends December 31. I have read 2 books for this challenge and posted 1 review.

11. The Winter Reading Challenge ends March 20. I've read way more books during this time period than I planned to, but I haven't reviewed them all.

12. The Science Book Challenge ends December 31. I'm currently reading 1 book for this challenge.

13. The Diversity Rocks! Challenge ends whenever I finish my other challenges. So far, none of my books have been very diverse. :(

14. The Dream King Challenge ends December 31. My own challenge, and I've barely done anything for it! I did see a movie (Coraline) but have yet to review it. Sigh...

I'm also working on the Blog Improvement Project, but don't get me started on how far behind I am on it. And as for Carl's Sci-Fi Experience, well, let's just say that these have not been the best of months for me to be doing non-school-related reading. But y'all just wait til this summer, when I'll have no papers to grade or lessons to plan - full-on read-fest, here I come! In about 3 months...