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!

Book Review: Crucial Conversations

One of my goals at work this year was to read the book, "Crucial Conversations" by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan and Al Switzler. "Crucial Conversations" tackles the topic of how to maintain your cool and progress through meaningful dialogue when the stakes are high and emotions are running higher. This is definitely a talent I could use, and I understand why my boss gave me this goal.

I thought this was a good book, though it did take me more than a month to get through. As with any non-fun book, it read a lot slower than "Harry Potter" or "Percy Jackson." And...well...I didn't read it for 2-3 hours every night like I would those type of books. But, it was good reading. I learned a lot, and I think I picked up some good strategies that I can apply. In fact, I think that I will have to use some of these strategies to get through some difficult meetings when work resumes on January 4th. Yes, that's right, I'm off work until January 4th...woohoo. I've already successfully applied some of these strategies in conversations with my wife, and these conversations went significantly better than history would indicate they should have gone.

If you think you need to work on your conversation skills because you find you struggle to get your meaning on the table when emotions run high, or you tend to lose control when the stakes rise, I think "Crucial Conversations" would help you. I'm going to get made fun of by a lot of the people I work with who read this blog, but I'm really glad I got assigned this book as a goal.

Movie Review: Avalon High

I have a weak spot for many things in my life. Buffalo Wings, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and lightweight golf shirts...to name just three. Well, a couple of other weaknesses are Cheesy Feel Good Disney Movies and King Arthur stories. Add to that, the fact that I thought the Patriots/Packers game last night would be a blow out, I wanted to try out the Netflix streaming on my new TV now that I have 3 Mbps speed at home and the fact that I was feeling ultra lazy...well let's just say we had the perfect storm of circumstances to prompt me to watch Disney's "Avalon High."

Frankly, this was just an average Disney movie, so I won't spend much time on it. The story was a bit weak, though it did throw two plot twists at me, and I really only saw one of them coming. The lead actress was actually pretty good, but the rest of the cast was just average, which was surprising considering Molly Quinn, from "Castle" was part of that cast. I guess it just wasn't a great role for her. Overall, "Avalon High" is a 3 star movie...maybe trending towards 2.8.

The Netflix streaming, on the other hand, was terrific. I experienced near HD quality from my streaming video. Everything loaded up very quickly and it was extremely easy to use. This is going to be a great way to take better advantage of my Netflix subscription. Oh, and the Patriots/Packers game ended up being a nail biter. The Patriots won 31-27...guess maybe I should have watched that...or, you know, done something productive with my life.

TV Series Review: Castle, Season 2

My wife and I slowly made our way through the 5 discs of season 2 of "Castle". We finished last night. We kept each disc for about a week, which is why there haven't been any movie or TV reviews lately. Though, with my new TV and the Netflix app on the TV, I see more reviews in the future.

"Castle" is quickly becoming one of my favorite shows. In fact, I'm debating whether it is better than "Psych", but right now, I think it's a close second to "Psych". "Castle" stars Nathan Fillion as Richard Castle, a mystery writer who is following NYPD Detective Kate Beckett (Stana Katic) around, because she is the muse for his new book series. With the success of the first book, Castle is back with Beckett for another season of solving murders and playful banter.

The cast of "Castle" is just terrific. Nathan Fillion is one of my favorite TV actors, ever since "Firefly." Stana Katic, who I'd only seen in a "Librarian" movie before this is really good as Detective Beckett. At home for Castle is his teenage daughter Alexis (Molly Quinn) and his sometimes live-in mother Martha (Susan Sullivan). They add a nice dimension to the show without overwhelming it.

Each episode is interesting, but usually either my wife or I has pegged the murderer by the end, so it can be somewhat predictable. What keeps the show good is the banter between Castle and Beckett and the side story that is usually going on in the Castle home. The semi-predictability of the plot doesn't ruin it is my point.

This is just a really good TV show...5 stars! I can't wait to watch season 3...and the best part is, I have 10 episodes of season 3 waiting on the DVR.

Banishment!

Our first Christmas as a married couple was an exciting one. We had been married almost 12 months, and we were expecting our first child in early December. Around Thanksgiving that year, my wife and I went to K-Mart in Brookings, SD to purchase a small Christmas tree, some lights and some basic ornaments. We were unable to go visit family because my wife was due in about 2 weeks. At K-Mart, we bought a Denver Broncos tree ornament, among other things, that I have proudly hung on our tree for the last 10 years.

This year, I banished that ornament. I find that I am so disappointed by the Denver Broncos organization that I couldn't bring myself to put it up. It's not just that they are losing, but it's the way the organization has conducted itself since the firing of Mike Shanahan. Bad decisions, bad examples on the field, and a cheating scandal off of it. I thought there was nothing that could ever taint my love for my team, but it's tainted this year. I still care, but I find that they are just disappointing me too much, so I have sort of shut down so as not to open myself up to further hurt, shame and disappointment.

I know, I know, some of you are saying, "Jake, you told me you were working on caring less about sports," which is totally true. I didn't cry or curl up in the fetal position or anything. I just made a rational decision to banish the ornament for this Christmas. I do sincerely hope that the Denver Broncos get their act together and earn my trust again. When they do that, the ornament will return to my tree. Until then, it will remain in a cardboard box in my cold garage.

The Art of Scrambled Eggs

Who knew I had been making scrambled eggs wrong my entire life? Today we had another family over after church for brunch. The husband/father of this family is one of my chief mentors in cooking. In fact, my father-in-law getting me hooked on Food Network, and this friend's cooking are probably the 2 biggest influences in me wanting to cook more.

So, for today's meal, my wife made a French Toast Casserole, which was awesome, by the way. I was in charge of eggs and bacon...pretty easy stuff. So, I was mixing the eggs for the scrambled eggs like I always do, and my friend said that I needed to me more aggressive. He then took the bowl and the whisk and demonstrated for me. The point of the more aggressive whisking is to get air into the eggs, making them more light and fluffy. He actually tilted the bowl and created an egg whisking vortex. It was magical! Who knew there was such an art to this stuff?

For the 2nd batch of eggs, I applied this method (not nearly as well), and they were the best scrambled eggs I had ever made. They were light and fluffy, and the most yellow scrambled eggs I had ever made...apparently I had never gotten them really well mixed before.

I know this friend reads my blog sometime, so thanks for the continued tips and techniques in cooking.