Happy New Year 2011!

I really don't have anything profound to say. I hope this new year finds you in good spirits and ready to face the new and upcoming challenges in the year ahead.

I know that I'm hoping to make some good strides in my faith life in 2011, as well as improving as a husband, father and worker...and golfer. Yeah, had to throw that last one in there...but, I think I have the priority set right. I wouldn't mind losing a little weight this year either.

Have a blessed New Year!

Movie Review: Inception

Alright, I was wrong about "Inception". My typical disdain for Leonardo DiCaprio movies kept me from seeing this one in the theater, even though Christopher Nolan is one of my favorite directors and Ellen Page is one of the best young actresses in Hollywood. My disdain for DiCaprio started with "Romeo and Juliet" and has just continued to fester...and that festering nearly stopped me from seeing a really good movie on a really big screen.

Enter my friend Chad...he of the 110", 7.1 or 9.1 surround sound home theater. Last night, we had movie night at Chad's house, and "Inception" was the feature. This is one you want to see on as big of a screen as possible. The effects are amazing. I would definitely recommend Blu-ray for this show.

The premise is kinda cool. DiCaprio is Dom Cobb, a man who makes his living sharing dreams with people and then stealing their most intimate secrets from the dream. He is recruited by a rich industrialist to plant an idea in his rival's head (i.e. inception). Cobb recruits a team of other dream warriors and they set a plan in motion to jump into this man's dreams and plant the seeds of an idea that will grow to meet the master plan of the rich industrialist who is paying the bills. Think a sci-fi version of "Ocean's Eleven" meets "James Bond".

Overall, this is a 4 star movie. I still don't like Leonardo DiCaprio as an actor, but I was able to get past that for "Inception." The rest of the cast, including Ellen Page, Cillian Murphy, Ken Wattanabe, Michael Caine and Tom Berenger helped overcome my dislike for DiCaprio. And, Nolan's directing was top notch once again. The action and effects were really good, and the story kept you guessing until the very end. You really have to pay attention to this one. And the ending...well, it keeps you guessing a little more.

TV Series Review: Psych, Season 5

"If you watch only one show...on Wednesday night...around 10 pm, make it this one!"

Yes, we are now 5 seasons into one of the greatest TV series in the history of TV..."Psych". Our heroes, fake psychic Shawn Spencer and his sidekick Burton Guster are back for more crime solving hysteria, only this time, they decided to throw in a few more serious Shawn moments.

Overall, I loved this season, though I found there were more "clunker" episodes than in past seasons. There were also some significant high points, such as the return of Cary Elwes as the uber thief Pierre Despereaux and the season's greatest episode, "Not Even Close Encounters" guest starring Freddie Prinze Jr. as a gigantic nerd. Also, in continuing to pay homage to the 80's and 90's, the writers brought in spoof episodes of "Twin Peaks" and "Police Academy." Overall, lots of good stuff, making this another 5 star season.

I do have to admit that I'm starting to get concerned. I don't see how they can keep this going for more than another season or 2. Some of the episodes were starting to seem like a reach. But, there were enough good shows to keep me wanting more, so I guess season 5 was a success. Can't wait for season 6 to start next summer.

Turkey and Black Bean Chili

This is starting to become a food blog. I've recently subscribed to allrecipes.com, and after what shall forever be known as the chili cooking disaster of 2010, I went in search of a chili recipe. My wife really likes turkey chili and we both like black beans, so I was looking for something that used ground turkey and could easily accept black beans. I found it in this recipe!

I did modify it slightly, and I cooked it in the crockpot for about 6 hours. I fed 7 people (5 adults) and there wasn't a drop of chili left when we were done.

Here's the recipe with my modifications:

1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
1 pound ground turkey
1 onion, chopped
2 cups water
1 (28 ounce) can canned crushed tomatoes
1 (14.5 ounce) can canned kidney beans - drained and rinsed
1 (14.5 ounce) can canned black beans - drained and rinsed
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chilis
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon Emeril's Southwest Seasoning
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Brown the turkey in a skillet with the olive oil. Once browned, add the onion and cook until tender.

Transfer the meat and onions to the crockpot and add all the other ingredients. Stir and cook on HI for 2 hours. Then lower the temperature to LO and let it cook for another 4 hours. Serve with shredded cheddar cheese.

This is a fairly mild chili, which was really appreciated by my wife. I added more pepper at the table to take the heat up a little bit. Some additional cayenne pepper would also work nicely in this recipe to take the heat up a bit. We will definitely be making this one again at our house.

Blu-ray vs. DVD

Now that I have a Blu-ray (according to Google, Blu-ray is the proper spelling) player and have watched some Blu-ray discs on it, I think I am qualified to give a review of Blu-ray. For the official record, I have watched "Despicable Me", "Sorcerer's Apprentice" and "Sky High" on Blu-ray disc. I have also watched the opening few minutes of "Fellowship of the Ring" on Blu-ray.

Blu-ray is better than DVD...but, it's not so much better that everyone is going to run right out and replace all their DVDs with Blu-rays. The Blu-ray picture and sound experience (even with TV speakers) is better than DVD. Some of the scenes are so clear that you feel like you could walk right into them. But, I think the up-converting DVD players do a great job in approximating true HD.

So, while I'm thrilled that I have a Blu-ray player, and I will definitely buy some movies in Blu-ray, I'm not in a rush to replace my DVD collection just yet.

Merry Christmas!

Yes, I'm 2 days late, but it's still the Christmas Season on the Catholic liturgical calendar, so I think I'm good. This could be quite a long post, so please forgive any typos.

Our family had a very nice Christmas. I'd been struggling all through advent to get in the Christmas spirit, but on Christmas eve, in the midst of 10 inches of snow, the Christmas spirit hit me. I think it was when I started doing some cooking for the Christmas meal, or maybe it was just the preparation my wife and I were doing around the house, or maybe it was the snow. As it was, by the time I headed for the church at 3 pm, I was in full Christmas mode. I played piano at the 4 pm mass at my church...we have two 4 pm masses, one in the main church and one downstairs. The downstairs filled up at 3:45 pm...the main church was packed by 3:30 pm. If only we could get that kind of attendance every week. It seems like, at least for one night, everyone remembers the reason for the season.

I've always loved playing piano at church on Christmas, so that really helped get the joy going. Christmas mass or service is always a highlight for me. I get chills when the Angel appears to the Shepard's every year. It's so amazing that God chose to take the form of man, and Christmas reminds us of that. After mass, I went to mass again at 6 pm. My 10 year old, David, was playing his trombone as part of the prelude to mass. He did great. I was so nervous for him, but he nailed it. I don't know how my parents sat through all my piano recitals throughout my childhood and never threw up...seriously, my stomach was not settled at all until he was done.

My parents and brother visited us for Christmas. After mass, we came home and had some chili. I tried a new chili recipe, and it turned out really well. I'll try to share the recipe at some point this week, since I'm off work and have time to blog. After supper, the kids went to bed, and despite their worries, they were able to go to sleep, which was good, because Santa can't visit if they don't sleep.

Christmas morning, the kids were up at 6:00 am, but waited until 7:00 like we asked them to do, and then they did a great job taking their time with presents. We finished at about 8:30. People were so thoughtful this Christmas.

The highlight of Christmas day for me was cooking...yes cooking. I learned that it is a ton of work to get a big dinner on the table, and luckily I had my mom here to help me. My wife was not feeling all that well, so my mom pitched in and helped. I made the Good Eats Roast Turkey recipe that Alton Brown put out there like 10 years ago. It was a delicious turkey, one of the best I've ever eaten. With the exception of the potatoes, everything turned out pretty well, and everyone ate too much.

After that, we had a quiet afternoon, and then watched some movies as a family. We watched "Despicable Me" on Bluray and then "Sorcerer's Apprentice" on Bluray. I'll post a review of Bluray this week sometime as well.

On Sunday morning, my family left. I am so thankful that they were able to visit this Christmas. We've had very few Christmas's together in the last 10 years, so it was nice to have a bigger family celebration.

I hope all of you had a Merry Christmas as well and are looking forward to a Blessed New Year!