Today we did our standard January 1st stuff. That is, we put away all of the Christmas decorations, disposed of the tree, and had our traditional meal consisting of roast pork, kielbasa, sauerkraut, and dumplings. This was all topped off by a bottle of Kendall-Jackson Riesling. Yum. Not much else to say about today, but can anyone else believe this weather?!? I mean, isn’t it supposed to be around -4 right now? I hope my plants don’t get tricked into thinking it is spring. I saw some garlic sprouting in my garden today. That can’t be good. Unless the temperature stays this way until March, that is. But, I’m not holding my breath on that one…
red dragon
We did another movie and a margarita night for our New Year’s Eve celebration. This followed a veritable cooking marathon of making Lasagne Verde al Forno (Baked Spinach Lasagna for my non-Italian readers). I made this for Brian’s birthday a few years ago and it was a total pain in the ass, so he helped me out with it yesterday. Of course, when I made it for his birthday, I had the flu, so I had to nap between steps (yes, it takes so long to make that you can take a nap between the steps).
Anyway, Red Dragon was the first book in Thomas Harris’s Hannibal Lecter trilogy. It was originally done in 1986 as a movie entitled Manhunter, but with the success of The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal, they decided to redo the movie with Anthony Hopkins in the role he has become famous for.
I, of course, have read the book before, but this movie made me want to read it again. I also saw the original version of the movie and remembered enjoying it, but I don’t recall the details. The remake was just as good as far as I can remember. Unlike the original, this one had an all-star cast: Anthony Hopkins (creepy as usual), Edward Norton (up there on my favorite actors list ever since I saw American History X), Ralph Fiennes (I was having Schindler’s List flashbacks whenever he picked up the shotgun), and Harvey Keitel (one of the few movies where he doesn’t ‘whip it out’).
The movie was good enough so that I paused it when it was time for a bathroom break. Even though I knew the plot, I was still on edge the whole movie, so I give it a thumbs up.
Here’s the Flick Filosopher’s review of the original move. Much still applies.
Happy New Year, everyone!
the day the talking stopped
Our good friends, the Shaffers, invited us over this evening. I guess you could call it a holiday visit.
We were hanging out in the kitchen eating, drinking, and swapping stories. For the first time ever, Brian was at a loss for words–he was in the middle of telling a story and suddenly had no idea what he was talking about and completely clammed up. Come to think of it, this happening was probably funnier than the story would’ve been so it all worked out ok.
Jake enjoyed playing with Katie and Johnny. The poor kid was hoarse by the time we got home. No sooner were we walking through their door to leave did he ask “when are we coming back?”
There always is a downside to hanging out with the Shaffer clan, though. Every time we end an evening with them, my face hurts from smiling/laughing so much. What can I say, my facial muscles aren’t used to such a workout.
wascally wabbit
I was letting Lizzy out after supper this evening when she started barking her proverbial head off. I figured it was probably the one neighborhood kid who always seems to be walking his dog whenever I let ours out. But no, it was a rabbit. A rabbit. In December. I suddenly had a flashback to May and June–the two months out of the year with the worst proliferation of rabbits. Starting in May, there are always rabbits outside–particularly at dusk and dawn. So, I always have to go chase the bunnies away before I let the pups out. You can normally see me around 5am in my PJs chasing rabbits (well, hopefully YOU don’t see me). Not only do I have to chase rabbits out of the yard, but out of the dogs’ sight as well (and this can take me quite a distance). At dusk, I’m normally fully dressed, so feel free to watch and/or help out.
Anyway, I digress…I brought Lizzy in, put on my shoes, and then chased the rabbit out of the yard. Just like in spring/summer.
You know, the only good thing about winter is that I never see any rabbits. If you can’t count on that, what can you count on? But, I guess if the worst thing about the winter is that it is too spring-like, I shouldn’t be complaining.