Fiscal Cliff - This is Absurd!

I haven't taken to this blog for politics in quite a while, but I decided it's time to do so today, as we edge closer to the so called "fiscal cliff".  If the Congress can't reach a deal today, mandatory tax increases and spending cuts will go into effect tomorrow, affecting every American.  I've followed the debate and have come to the conclusion that this entire thing is just absurd.

First off, the only reason we've reached this point is because our Congress couldn't agree on a deficit reduction deal after the Simpson-Bowles committee made their recommendations.  So, they kicked the can down the road, and here we are.  The fact that our elected leaders can't ever compromise and figure anything out is completely absurd!  This is why we need term limits.  Our leaders are so concerned about protecting their power and getting re-elected that they are paralyzed when it comes to taking action.  Seriously, give me a team of 5 people and we could fix this...it would be painful, but we could fix it.  It's just a math problem, there's always a solution.

Secondly, make no mistake the entire debate going on right now is about nothing more than raising taxes on those making over $250,000 (or maybe it's $450,000 depending on the day) per year.  Sure, our so-called leaders are paying lip service to spending cuts and unemployment benefits, but this all comes down to tax cuts.  President Obama and the Democrats are willing to drive us over the fiscal cliff to get their precious tax increases on the "wealthy".  Obama and the Dems are confident they can go down this path because they know the left-wing media will paint the Republicans as villains for wanting to protect tax rates for "the rich", while sacrificing the middle and lower incomes.  And, sadly, Obama and the Dems are right, this is exactly what the media will do.

Now, the Republicans are far from perfect, and I think they are being stupid right now.  Even though I'm completely against tax increases without meaningful spending reforms, the Republicans have to give in on this one.  Obama is going to get his tax increases one way or the other.  That's the key point in all of this...Obama gets what he wants whether or not Congress comes to an agreement here.  No matter what happens today, Obama will get the higher taxes on the rich he campaigned on!  To me, that's the biggest story here.  For someone who claims he cares about the middle class, Obama seems more than willing to play chicken with middle class taxes to get his coveted tax increases. 

This is the ugly truth about this President and his left-wing cronies that no one in the main stream media will say.  At the end of the day, President Obama cares more about advancing his Socialist agenda than he does about protecting the "middle class".  The "agenda" is more important than the people this agenda will hurt. 

The Republicans are not blameless in this.  They should have realized this by now and acted.  With the fawning left-wing media, there's no way the Republicans come out of this looking good, but they should have the guts to act and do what is right for most Americans.  We do not need a tax increase in this economy...not unless it's accompanied by meaningful spending reform, which it most certainly will not be at this point.  But the Republicans can't win here.

Frankly, the Republicans shouldn't even be afraid to take this loss.  If you believe in the conservative economic theories, any tax increase at this point, even if it's just on "the rich", will result in some type of economic down turn.  So, if the Republicans just get out of the way and let this go through, then Obama and the Democrats have to own the consequences of this action, which I believe will be another recession.  Make no mistake, the next recession will be Obama's recession.  And that should lead the way to a Conservative revolution in 2014 and 2016.  The Republicans have to think long term here, because in the short term, they are going to lose.

The Biggest Movie Truths

I am a big time movie fan, as anybody who has read this blog knows.  As such, I have realized certain truths about the movie universe and the movie watching experience that I want to share with you, my faithful readers (I'm not giving away all my movie truths here, just the most important ones from my first 100 movie truths):

Movie truth #1 - Low expectations are the key to a good movie watching experience.

Movie truth #7 - Ryan Reynolds and Brendan Fraser automatically suck the life out of a movie.  My recommendation is to avoid movies with these actors.

Movie truth #12 - Denzel Washington always make good movies, except when Movie truth #7 is in place.

Movie truth #17 - All Keanu Reeves movies that don't require him to act will be passable to good (see "Bill & Ted" or "The Matrix" for examples).

Movie truth #24 - Once an actor or director has won a multiple Oscars, they believe the hype about themselves and make movies that are "Critically Acclaimed."  For examples, see Tom Hanks or Steven Spielberg and note that Clint Eastwood seems to be the exception to this rule.

Movie truth #25 - "Critically Acclaimed" is code for "93.64% of the population won't actually like this movie."

Movie truth #37 - Kristen Stewart is on her way to being the female equivalent of Ryan Reynolds and/or Brendan Fraser.

Movie truth #39 - Pixar movies are almost always better than Dreamworks.  The exception to this rule seems to be "Kung Fu Panda".

Movie truth #40 - Jack Black's best character is a talking panda.

Movie truth #49 - Everything J.J. Abrams or Christopher Nolan touch is gold...pure gold!  If they ever team up on a project, my head may explode.

Movie truth #57 - Frodo was annoying in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy.

Movie truth #61 - There is a place in this world for Cheesy Feel Good Disney Movies, and we all secretly like them, though we pretend that we don't.

Movie truth #73 - James Cameron is overrated...like highly overrated.  Personally, I wouldn't want him directing my son's middle school play.

Movie truth #80 - Green screens are over used in movies today.

Movie truth #84 - If Will Smith is in the movie, it will do a huge box office, but will probably be slightly disappointing.

Movie truth #91 - When in doubt, watch a movie about super heroes.

Movie truth #100 - If the masses voted for the Oscars, Bruce Willis would win Best Actor every other year, and nobody would know who Daniel Day Lewis is.

Top 5 Fictional Coaches

Earlier this week, my friend sent me a youtube video of Coach Norman Dale's speech prior to Hickory High taking the court in the 1952 Indiana State High School Championship against might South Bend.  It's a great speech, and it's all fictional.  Yes, this is the speech from the classic film "Hoosiers", starring Gene Hackman as Norman Dale.  That video got me thinking, who are the top 5 fictional coaches from the movies.

I tried to stick to fictional characters, so while Kurt Russell as Herb Brooks in "Miracle" was great, "Miracle" is based on the 1980 USA vs Russia Hockey Game, so I didn't count Herb Brooks as a fictional character.  Anyway, here's what I came up with:

Honorable Mention is Gordon Bombay from "The Mighty Ducks".  Go check 'em out...those movies are fun.

5 - Bagger Vance ("The Legend of Bagger Vance") - Yes, he was Ranulph Junah's (Matt Damon)caddie, but he's also the guy who helped Junah find his "one true swing".  And I'm a sucker for golf movies with lines like this...
"Yep... Inside each and every one of us is one true authentic swing... Somethin' we was born with... Somethin' that's ours and ours alone... Somethin' that can't be taught to ya or learned... Somethin' that got to be remembered... Over time the world can, rob us of that swing... It get buried inside us under all our wouldas and couldas and shouldas... Some folk even forget what their swing was like..."

4 - Mickey Goldmill ("Rocky") - What can I say?  Mickey was the classic boxing coach, and father figure to Rocky.  Plus he said this line..."You're gonna eat lightnin' and you're gonna crap thunder!"  How can you not love that?

3 - Jimmy McGinty ("The Replacements") - Not only does McGinty (Gene Hackman) pull a rabbit out of his hat when his Washington Sentinels beat Dallas, but he plays a significant role in making Shane Falco (Keanu Reeves) into a cult hero for sports movie junkies like me.  Plus, he wears a cool hat.  This is my favorite Jimmy McGinty quote...
"Listen up! By this time tomorrow the strike will be officially over and you men will be out of a job. Up until now Dallas hasn't been afraid of you, and they should be because you have a powerful weapon working for you. There is no tomorrow for you, and that makes you all very dangerous people!"

2 - Lou Brown ("Major League") - Lou Brown (James Gammon) can be the manager of my baseball team any time.  With his dry delivery and no nonsense approach, Brown turns a bunch of baseball castoffs into a playoff team by rallying them against the evil owner of the Cleveland Indians.  "Major League" is still my favorite sports movie, and Lou Brown has to be near the top of my list of top 5 fictional coaches.  Here's my favorite Lou Brown quote..."Forget about the curve ball Ricky, give him the heater."

1 - Norman Dale ("Hoosiers") - You had to see this one coming.  Gene Hackman's second entry on this list is the greatest fictional coach there is.  Norman Dale takes little Hickory High all the way to the top by doling out tough love, working hard, pushing fundamentals, and taking risks.  "Hoosiers is a great movie, and Norman Dale is the greatest fictional coach there is.  The best Norman Dale quote is his speech before the championship game, and it's good enough that I'll post the youtube video here:

Turkey Enchiladas

I'm pretty happy with this meal I made tonight.  I was trying to find something to do with our leftover turkey.  I saw a recipe for Turkey Enchiladas...I wasn't keen on the particular recipe I found, but I liked the idea.

So, off to HyVee we went to get tortillas, cheese and enchilada sauce.  Unfortunately, the brand of enchilada sauce we like was gone, so I quickly googled on my phone and found this recipe for a quick enchilada sauce.  So we got some tomato sauce and I decided I'd give it a shot.  I ended up modifying the recipe for the sauce quite a bit, and I'm really happy with the results.  I even added chocolate, so it probably counts as a mole (MOL-AY).

Here's the recipe for the sauce:

Ingredients:
8 oz can tomato sauce
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/4 cup canola oil
3 TBSP Chili Powder
3 TBSP Semi-sweet or Dark Chocolate
2 TBSP Wheat Flour
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp Emeril's Southwest Seasoning
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion salt

Directions:
1.  Combine oil, flour, chili powder and minced garlic and heat over low heat to form a roux.
2.  Stir in remaining ingredients, bring to a low boil and simmer for 10-15 minutes.  The sauce will thicken as it cooks.

The flavor of this sauce is very similar to some mole I had at my favorite mexican restaurant in town, so I think it's fairly authentic.  It has a mild-medium heat and lots of flavor.  I had semi-sweet chocolate chips, so that is what I used. 

So now that I had the sauce, it was time to make the enchiladas.  Here is the recipe I used for the enchiladas:

Ingredients:
4 multi-grain tortillas
8 oz. shredded Cheddar-Jack Cheese
Enchilada Sauce made above
2 cups shredded turkey (you could use chicken)
1 diced bell pepper (red or yellow would be best)
1/2 diced yellow onion
1 tsp minced garlic
1 TBSP olive oil

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Add oil, onion, bell pepper and garlic to a saute pan and cook vegetables until tender.
3.  Add turkey (or chicken) to saute pan and heat through.
4.  Add two ladles of sauce to the turkey/vegetables and mix thoroughly.
5.  Spoon about 1/2 cup of the turkey/vegetable mixture down center of each tortilla.  Top with 1-2 tablespoons of cheese. Roll up and place seam-side down in 9x13 dish.  For best results, grease the baking dish first. Top with remaining sauce and cheese.
6.  Bake for 25 minutes.  Serve immediately.

As I said above, I'm very happy with how this meal turned out.  I thought it was very close to the enchiladas I had two weeks ago at my favorite Mexican Restaurant here in town.  I'm so excited to make this again real soon! 

Greatly Overdue Movie Reviews

I've got six movies to review.  It's been a while, but I have some good ones in here, so keep reading.

"Battleship":  This movie is the surprise of the bunch.  I had super low expectations, and found that I really, really enjoyed the 2 hours and 11 minutes I spent watching "Battleship".

Taylor Kitsch stars as Alex Hopper, a Navy Lieutenant who never quite manages to realize his full potential.  While participating in Naval exercises, Hopper receives some bad news.  Before he can realize the full implications of that news, the earth is attacked by aliens.  His ship is at the center of the initial wave, and after his captain and first officer dies, Hopper finds himself in command of the only ship left with a chance to stop the aliens before they establish communications and send for reinforcements.

Is the premise a bit far fetched?  Sure is...but it's a fun movie that is decently acted and packed with cool Naval battles.  Liam Neeson plays an Admiral, and as he generally does, Neeson raises the class of the movie just by his sheer presence.  Kitsch is better in "Battleship" than he was in "John Carter" and I think he has a bright future ahead of him.

This is a 4, almost 4.5, star movie.  "Battleship" is a great popcorn eating movie.

"Men in Black 3":  Yes, Agents J (Will Smith) and K (Tommy Lee Jones) are back again, and as good as ever.  I watched this one on my recent trip to Brazil, and was not disappointed.

"Men in Black 3" finds us 14 years after the original "Men in Black".  A ruthless alien that Agent K put away in 1969 has escaped from his prison on the moon, and is looking for revenge.  When the Agents face off against this menace, Agent K suddenly becomes very secretive and protective.  The next day, Agent J wakes up to find that he's the only one at MIB that remembers Agent K.  Deducing that the timeline has been changed, Agent J, with the help of one of the many crazies living in New York, goes back in time to 1969 to find a younger and happier version of Agent K (Josh Brolin).  The two of them have to work together to save the world once again.

I have always liked the "Men in Black" movies.  I find them entertaining first and foremost.  Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are always a great pair.  The majority of this movie is Will Smith and Josh Brolin, but that's ok.  Brolin does a great job playing a young Tommy Lee Jones. 

"Men in Black 3" kept me laughing and entertained for 2 hours of a 10 hour flight.  For that alone, it gets 4 stars.

"The Muppets":  David became a big fan of The Muppets earlier this year, and he begged me to get "The Muppets" from Netflix.  For those of you who are Muppets fans from way back, this movie will bring back a lot of nostalgia.

The premise is pretty simple.  The Muppets have fallen on hard times.  They aren't relevant any more, and the implication is that kids today have moved beyond the relatively tame comedy that the Muppets bring to the stage.  But, when Walter (a muppet), his brother (Jason Segal) and his girlfriend (Amy Adams) visit The Muppet Studios, hi jinx ensues to bring the Muppets back.

I really enjoyed this movie.  It took me back to when I was a kid...from the opening theme to Rainbow Connection, it was great stuff.  Although Jason Segal is not a great actor, he sings one of the best songs in the movie, asking the eternal question, "Am I a Man or a Muppet"?

This is a 4 star movie...really good stuff!

"The Hunger Games":  I read all the books in "The Hunger Games" trilogy, and while I was disappointed with the 3rd book, this was still a good book series.  I wasn't sure how the series would translate to a movie, so I skipped the theater and waited for the DVD.

In case you aren't familiar with the premise, "The Hunger Games" is set some time in the future.  The United States has fallen, and is divided into 12 districts, controlled by The Capital.  People in the Capital live high on the hog, so to speak, but as you get out into the districts, life gets harder and poorer.  In response to a rebel uprising, each district is required to send two tributes, age 12-18, to compete in The Hunger Games, a "Survivor" type show with only 1 survivor.  Our hero, Katniss Everdeen, finds herself competing along with her fellow district 12 competitor Peeta.

"The Hunger Games" made a very compelling movie, and stayed relatively true to the book.  I thought Jennifer Lawrence was a great choice for Katniss, and I liked Donald Sutherland as President Snow.  I had heard the camera work was shaky and hard to follow, but I didn't seem to have trouble with it at all.

"The Hunger Games" is a 4 star movie.  Lets see how Hollywood handles the next 2 movies.

"Man On A Ledge":  I was intrigued enough by the trailers to put this movie in my DVD queue.  This movie was on it's way to being really good, but somewhere along the line it took a detour and ended up at mediocre.

"Man on a Ledge" stars Sam Worthington as Nick Cassidy, a former cop, who is sent to prison for committing robbery.  When Cassidy escapes prison, he ends up on the ledge of a building.  This is where a suicide specialist (Elizabeth Banks) is brought in.  However, it quickly becomes obvious that Cassidy is not on the ledge for suicidal reasons...he definitely has something else in the works.

The parts of this movie where Cassidy is actually on the ledge are really well done, other than the fact that Sam Worthington keeps slipping in and out of his natural Australian accent.  However, when his plot is discovered, "Man On A Ledge" turns into just another action movie, and not a great one at that.

I'll go with 3 stars for "Man On A Ledge".

"Snow White and the Huntsman":  I'm not gonna spend a lot of time on this movie.  This was another airplane movie.  I knew it had gotten rotten reviews, and my friend Nick said it was terrible, but there wasn't much selection on the plane, so I decided to give it a whirl...what a waste of time.

This movie is a new telling of the traditional Snow White story.  Kristen Stewart plays Snow White, Charlize Theron is the wicked queen, and Chris Hemsworth is The Huntsmen. 

Here are the problems I had with this movie:
1)  The story is horribly weak.  Snow White never appears heroic or particularly inspiring, but at the end of the movie, all of the sudden she is supposed to be heroic and inspiring.  It just doesn't work.
2)  Kristen Stewart is terrible.  She spends most of the movie looking stoned.
3)  Charlize Theron way overacts...I mean almost Shatner overacting, but not in a good way.
4)  Chris Hemsworth is wasted.  He was so good in "Thor" and "The Avengers" and could have been good in this, but the movie was so bad, he never got a chance to be good.

I rate this one 2 stars, only because Ian McShane has a cameo appearance, and I still think Chris Hemsworth is pretty good, despite being set up for failure with this terrible script.

Things to Do Tonight Instead of Watching Election Coverage

I started this blog about 4 years ago, right before the McCain/Obama election.  I have no idea how tonight's election is going to turn out.  I suspect Obama will win, but who knows.  I don't plan to watch any of the election coverage.  Here are some things I may consider doing, instead of watching election coverage.

-Reorganizing my sock drawer
-Washing my hair (but I don't have that much left)
-Start working on my memoirs...I'm thinking the title is "Too Many Buffalo Wings, Not Enough Veggies"
-Finally getting started on that workout regimen
-Watching reruns of Super Bowl XXXII
-Figuring out how to incorporate the Hot Pocket into gourmet cuisine
-Reviewing online articles discussing the merits of Lawn Gnomes
-Watching a "Once Upon a Time" Marathon with my wife
-Learning to dance Gangnam Style
-Playing online poker for fake money

So, as you can see, I've got lots of options tonight.  I hope you have options as well.  If not, perhaps you will consider one of the endeavors I listed above.

Enjoy not watching election coverage!

Championship Dip

Today, we held our 2nd Annual Department Dip Day contest at work.  The rules were simple, anyone who wanted, could bring in a dip (sweet, savory, salsa, etc.) and the department would provide the dipping vessel (i.e. chips, pretzels, veggies, etc.).  Everyone would sample the varying dips, and then vote for their top 3.  A first place vote was worth 5 points, a 2nd place vote was worth 3 points and a third place vote was worth 1 point. 

We had 19 different dips entered in the contest.  Interestingly, not 1 salsa.  Anyway, my Buffalo Chicken Dip won first prize.  I get bragging rights, and the Henck Cup, named after the winner of our first dip day contest.

I'm pretty thrilled since this is the first time I've made this dip.  I found the recipe a couple of months ago, and decided on Monday that it would be my entrant into the contest.  I based the dip off this recipe from allrecipes.com, but I modified it to fit my tastes.  I should have taken a picture, but I failed.  However, if you like Buffalo Chicken Wings, you will really like this dip.

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients:
2 8 oz. packages of cream cheese, softened
1 cup Frank's Red Hot
2 cups cubed grilled chicken (dice it up very small)
3/4 cup Bleu Cheese Dressing
1/4 cup Bleu Cheese Crumbles
1 cup Mild Cheddar Cheese

Directions:
1 - Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2 - In a medium bowl, mix the cream cheese and Frank's Red Hot until well blended
3 - Add chicken, cheeses and dressing to the bowl and mix
4 - Pour mixture into a 9x13 baking dish and bake for 30 minutes
5 - Transfer to a crockpot to keep warm.  Serve with tortilla chips.