This is brilliant. Al Minns and Leon James dancing to hip hop. http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=593402085&n=2

(Don’t get me wrong, I prefer the original music, of course. But this is a seamless blend of old and new dance/music. Not only the rhthym, but the choreography matches this piece of music perfectly. An amazing mash-up.)

Back in February a company was moving office furniture into our building. I have a view of the building entrance from my desk and had a nice chuckle watching 5 people struggle to get an object larger than a fridge up our front step. They were at it for at least 20 minutes. The next day I noticed they had chipped the brick walkway. The single step was damaged just 4 inches across and only one inch deep from the edge.

That afternoon our on-the-ball management placed four large orange cones surrounding the chipped area. The message being that they’re very concerned about our safety. Over the next three months, I saw management come inspect the spot several times. Often with clipboards, making notes.

Recently I saw two men from management on the step, fiddling with the cones. Good, I thought. They’re finally fixing it and getting rid of the rediculous over-the-top warning. Right? Wrong.

Let’s add caution tape!

Three weeks have passed since this photo, and nothing has changed. Amazing.

Check out my website for more pictures in the About Me section and the crafting page!

I went to Grand Junction for Kristin’s baby shower. Andy came home since he had a break from school. Not wanting to be left out, Amanda made it too! I was thrilled to spend lots of time with . . .

The newest cat in our family – Roman!

This blur is most typical of her behavior. She makes my cat look like a statue.

She obviously loves her owner.

And is good at finding others in the mood for a nap.

We make a classy pair.

Roman and dad are modeling the hats I made for Kristin’s baby.

Andy caved and bought Guitar Hero. Even mom was rockin out.

Final gratuitous kitten photo.

When I got back home, my own cat looked FAT!

Yeah, so what? Feed me, slave!

More leftover pork loin in my famous baked sandwich. This time with a balsamic onion and cream cheese filling, with kosher salt and herbs with butter brushed on the top.

Peanut butter/chocolate swirl chip cookies. These chips were unimpressive. Next time I’ll opt for plain chocolate chips in peanut butter batter.

Mac and cheese from scratch with steamed broccoli.

Spring is here! Rosemary balsamic chicken is accompanied by sauteed vidalia onions, asparagus, and corn.

Saturday night we were talking with a new friend about MS and tried to search the internet to find the official website (here, by the way). To our surprise, all of our movies were playing on Google Video! So now everyone can easily and speedily stream all of Movie Saturday productions anytime they want. Just search video.google.com for “Movie Saturday” including quotes.

Watching a few films reminded Brian that he intended to make commentary tracks for a future DVD release. Sunday afternoon I went to his place and we started. We have three commentary tracks done. They were really quick and easy to record. Now we just need to find a day for other participants to provide insight for their works.

I love it when we get snow like this.

Ben got me my favorite kind of roses, orange and yellow. They’re blooming like mad.

He took me to Vesta Dipping Grill last night. It’s a very fun place to eat (although they could turn the lights up a bit, it would be nice to be able to see the food). I had a lamb tenderloin with pistachio-mint sauce, red pepper rica rouille, and dried berry chutney. We also had a sauce sampler with pita bread and a cheese plate. The truffle cheese was amazing.

I could have remembered what all these spices were, if I had posted this picture in a timely manner. But if memory serves me, it includes paprika, tumeric, fenugreek, cloves, cumin, coriander, cayenne . . . and others.

Put it all together, and you get my first attempt at Ethiopian cooking. I made Tibs W’et, red lentils with chow, basmati rice, quick pickled carrots, and yogurt (because this was WAY spicier than anything I normally make). (Ben was thrilled).

Beef fajitas with guacamole, grilled onions and peppers, and various toppings.

Pan fried potatoes with paprika and cayenne, boiled brussel sprouts, and smoked sausage with onions.

Whole wheat banana bread with wheat bran on top.

Meatloaf with spicy hoisin glaze, steamed green beans, roasted sweet potatoes, and beans.

Spring is here! Strawberry shortcakes.

Bean, onion, pepper, and cheese quesadillas with guacamole and blue corn chips.

Roasted pork loin, sweet and sour red cabbage, and pickled radishes.

Leftover grilled pork sandwiches (surprisingly flavorful), more pan fried potatoes (they were so tasty, I had to make them again), and the ubiquitous steamed green.

Chocolate pudding from scratch. I learned pudding really isn’t worth it when made with low-fat milk.

From Kottke.org:

Film critic Jim Emerson recently compiled a list of 102 movies that you should see before

you can consider yourself movie literate:

…they [are] the movies you just kind of figure everybody ought to have seen in order to have any sort of informed discussion about movies. They’re the common cultural currency of our time, the basic cinematic texts that everyone should know, at minimum, to be somewhat “movie-literate.”

Kottke then asterisks all the movies he has seen. I do not consider myself movie literate, but for kicks, let’s see how I do.
* means I saw it
– means I’ve seen parts of it (parts = at least a ten minute segment, not “clips”) and probably won’t ever watch the whole thing

– 2001: A Space Odyssey
* The 400 Blows
* 8 1/2
Aguirre, the Wrath of God
Alien
* All About Eve
* Annie Hall
* Apocalypse Now
* Bambi
The Battleship Potemkin
The Best Years of Our Lives
The Big Red One
The Bicycle Thief
The Big Sleep
* Blade Runner
* Blowup
Blue Velvet
*Bonnie and Clyde
Breathless
Bringing Up Baby
Carrie
* Casablanca
Un Chien Andalou
Children of Paradise / Les Enfants du Paradis
– Chinatown
* Citizen Kane
– A Clockwork Orange
The Crying Game
The Day the Earth Stood Still
Days of Heaven
Dirty Harry
* The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Do the Right Thing
La Dolce Vita
Double Indemnity
* Dr. Strangelove
– Duck Soup
* E.T. — The Extra-Terrestrial
Easy Rider
* The Empire Strikes Back
– The Exorcist
– Fargo
* Fight Club
* Frankenstein
The General
The Godfather, The Godfather, Part II
Gone With the Wind
GoodFellas
* The Graduate
Halloween
* A Hard Day’s Night
Intolerance
It’s a Gift
* It’s a Wonderful Life
* Jaws
The Lady Eve
* Lawrence of Arabia
M
Mad Max 2 / The Road Warrior
* The Maltese Falcon
The Manchurian Candidate
* Metropolis
Modern Times
* Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Nashville
The Night of the Hunter
Night of the Living Dead
* North by Northwest
– Nosferatu
On the Waterfront
Once Upon a Time in the West
Out of the Past
Persona
Pink Flamingos
– Psycho
– Pulp Fiction
Rashomon
Rear Window
Rebel Without a Cause
Red River
Repulsion
The Rules of the Game
Scarface
The Scarlet Empress
Schindler’s List
The Searchers
* The Seven Samurai
* Singin’ in the Rain
* Some Like It Hot
A Star Is Born
* A Streetcar Named Desire
* Sunset Boulevard
– Taxi Driver
The Third Man
– Tokyo Story
Touch of Evil
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
Trouble in Paradise
Vertigo
* West Side Story
The Wild Bunch
* The Wizard of Oz

Yikes. I’ve only seen 33 of these movies. Does it matter that I can explain the historical significance and/or plot of at least half the movies I haven’t seen? How do my readers compare?

The scenes I’m choreographing are looking really good! Most of the scene is done, and about half has been taught to the dancers. It’s hard trying to gauge what’s too hard and what will work spatially, given my the lack of pointe shoes and my small apartment.

Crafts updated on my website! (Same pose, now with a cat!)