Return of the Food Police

Well, San Francisco has once again shown why someone like Nancy Pelosi can get elected to Congress. In a truly nanny-state move, the city of San Francisco has passed an ordinance banning the use of toys in kids meals unless the meals meet certain nutritional standards. From Reuters, "The San Francisco law would bar toys from being given away with kids' meals unless those meals have fewer than 600 calories, contain fruits and vegetables, and include beverages without excessive fat or sugar."

This is yet another example of what unchecked liberalism is capable of. These San Francisco liberals have pushed their way farther into the lives of the citizens of San Francisco...and sadly, those people out there don't seem to care. They keep electing people who think like this, and they keep sending Nancy Pelosi back to Congress. Maybe the country should pass a law banning San Francisco from participating in the Federal Government until they get some common sense.

Ok, I really don't want that. Actually, I think this is an opportunity for the fast food companies to stick it to the man. If I had a fast food restaurant, I would make my menu look like this:

Kid's Meal w/ Greasy Burger, Fries and a Sugary Drink - $3.50
Kid's Meal w/ Greasy Burger, Fries, a Sugary Drink and a Toy - $4.00
Kid's Meal w/ Healthy Stuff and the same Toy - $8.00

To me, this would be the perfect way around the law. They are selling the toy for 50 cents, and they are making the point that the healthy options cost them more so they are passing that cost on to the consumer. Look, unfortunately, this is a country full of fat kids who's parents don't do a good job of feeding them a balanced diet. That's not the fault of the fast food places...they provide a service that people pay for. If you liberals are so concerned about fat kids, create a fat tax to punish the fat people...the kid's meal problem will take care of itself. A liberal is probably reading this right now and doesn't realize I'm joking...in fact that liberal probably thinks I just came up with a really good idea.

You can't police this...this is a free country (currently, though Obama and the Dems are working on that problem) and we have a right to eat what we want to eat when we want to eat it. It's a parent's job to feed their child good food. If they fail, that's their fault too. It's time for the return of personal responsibility, something that has been missing in this country for far too long.

Fried Chicken!

I bought a cast iron skillet about a month ago for the sole purpose of frying chicken. Ok, there are other great uses for my cast iron skillet, but I really wanted to fry chicken. I love fried chicken...my wife does not. So, it's a once in a while thing.

The family was out of town this weekend, so last night I had a friend over to watch football and I made my first attempt at fried chicken. I used this recipe from Paula Deen, who I figured would know a thing or 2 about fried chicken.

I followed the recipe almost exactly. I didn't have self rising flour, but I found out that you can convert all purpose flour to self rising flour by adding 1 1/2 tablespoons of baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of salt per cup of flour. So, I made my own self rising flour. The other deviation I took was I used Frank's Red Hot sauce instead of Texas Pete Hot Sauce (by the way, don't worry about the hot sauce, it doesn't overwhelm the chicken, just adds another dimension to the flavor). Also, technically I pan fried it rather than deep fried it, but that's splitting hairs.

Overall, the chicken turned out really good. I really liked the breading and the chicken stayed very moist. I think next time, I will use a smaller chicken and possibly take the chicken breast off the bone to help the breast cook faster. The breasts took almost 40 minutes to get done. The thighs took about 22 minutes (11 minutes per side), the legs took 20 minutes (10 minutes per side) and the wings took about 10 minutes total (mostly because there were almost totally submerged in the oil).

If you attempt to cook this, keep in mind that you need to maintain your oil temperature. I had a thermometer in the oil all the time, and with my electric stove, I had to work a little to keep it at 350 degrees, though the cast iron's super heat conducting capabilities really helped (thanks Alton Brown). Also, have a meat thermometer handy to check the internal temperature of the chicken...165 for white meat, 175 for dark meat. In fact, if you want to go about 10 degrees more done, that's ok...at least Alton Brown says so.

There isn't much I plan to change with this recipe. Next time I will probably season the chicken a little more liberally before dipping it into the wet mixture. I may even try to marinate the chicken or brine it to add a little more flavor to the meat. I won't change the breading mixture at all.

And the true test of good fried chicken...I ate it cold today and it was still good. I think we have a "winner winner chicken dinner," to quote Guy Fieri. Yes, I watch too much Food Network.

So, that's my fried chicken cooking adventure. If I can do it, anybody can. Enjoy!

Movie Review: Batman: Under the Red Hood

Another DC Comics PG-13 rated cartoon. For the last couple of years, DC has been rolling these out, and for the most part I've enjoyed them all. I'm a huge Batman fan, so I was very excited to see a preview for "Batman: Under the Red Hood." I caught this one last night on Netflix instant watch.

In this movie, Gotham is plagued by a new crime lord known as the Black Mask. But a new vigilante is on the scene waging an all out war on the Black Mask. While Batman has always refused to use a gun and won't kill anyone, the Red Hood has no such limitations. Even worse, the Red Hood seems to know everything Batman is going to do before he does it. It's up to Batman to find out who the Red Hood is and stop him before he does something unimaginable.

I really liked this movie. I'd put it at 4 stars. There are a number of reflections to Batman's past in this story, which is always interesting to a Batman fan like me. I thought the story was solid and was satisfied with the ending. I really enjoyed the vocal casting. Bruce Greenwood voices Batman, and does a really good job of it. I'm always going to be partial to Kevin Conroy who did Batman in "Batman the Animated Series" and "Justice League" but Greenwood is the best of the rest who have voiced Batman. I also though the vocal casting for Joker was great. The Joker was voiced by John DiMaggio, who I've never heard of, but did a great job.

I'll admit this movie isn't for everyone. But if you are a fan of DC comics and over 13 years old, I think you'll really like it.

More Hat Knowledge

One of my most commented early blogs was a post about the Fedora. You know, it's sorta sad that 2 comments counts as a lot for me. But I digress.

Yesterday, my friend and I went on walkabout at work. Walkabout is when we take a 10 minute break and go walk outside. It was about 45 degrees yesterday, so my friend put on his Ivy League Cap, though he didn't know it was an Ivy League Cap, and neither did I. In fact, I mistakenly referred to his Ivy League Cap as a Tam O'Shanter...how embarrassing for me!

So, without further adieu, some explanation. The Tam O'Shanter is a traditional Scottish style hat worn by men. This hat is named after a character in a poem by Robert Burns, written in 1790. And yes, I found that on Wikipedia. The Tam O'Shanter differs from an Ivy League Cap in that it has no bill and often has a ball or some other decoration on top. The Tam O'Shanter is pictured above.

The Ivy League Cap is the style of cap made famous by the late professional golfer Payne Stewart. Sadly, Wikipedia doesn't appear to have a page dedicated to the Ivy League Cap, and I'm too tired to go down a rabbit hole. Google "Payne Stewart Hat" to see what this style of cap looks like.

Now that I have expanded every one's hat knowledge, including my own, I'm going to bed.

Movie Review: "The Gamers: Dorkness Rising"

At the recommendation of Nuke, I gave this Indie film a shot. Nuke rated it 3 stars, and generally we're one star apart, so I assumed "The Gamers: Dorkness Rising" would be a 4 star movie for me. I don't know if I wasn't in the right mood or if Nuke's build-up was too much, but it fell short of a 4 star movie, though not a complete flop at 3 stars.

The plot follows a group of Dungeons and Dragons gamers who just can't complete this quest set forth by the Dungeon Master. They finally decide they need to add another 2 players. Sadly, they seem to not have 2 more friends. So one of the gamers invites his ex-girlfriend to join the group and the movie takes off from there.

I'm generally not a fan of low budget Indie films, though this had it's moments. As a former D&D gamer, I can relate to the characters, or I can identify who from my group the character most aligned with. Every D&D group seems to have the crazy guy, the dense guy, the reasonable one and the one who takes it way too seriously, and "The Gamers" does a good job reflecting that. I guess maybe it's my maturing taste in movies that prevented me from fully embracing some of the silliness of this movie. That was a joke...not really sure why I didn't like this more.

This is a good, but not great, flick. I'd put it right up there with "Fellowship of the Dice" for showing the real world of role play gaming.

And So It Begins...

On the eve of the 2008 elections, I started this blog because, in part, I was so highly annoyed that Barack Obama was going to be elected our 44th President that I needed an outlet to vent. Here we are 2 years and 102 political blogs later, and we are on the verge of another power shift in Washington. This time, it's the Republicans who are poised to take over the House and maybe the Senate. They will gain Governor seats and pick up State offices all throughout the country. One would think I would be rejoicing at the good news of tomorrow, but I'm not.

Don't misunderstand me, I still believe Barack Obama and the Democrats are really bad for America. Their policies are damaging and their motives are unclear. Really, any change away from these guys should be a good one. However, I'm cautious because the Republicans were barely any better the last time they were in power. So, I'm going to sit back and be prepared to vote against the Republicans in 2012 if they get in there and act in a manner that reminds me of the Democrats in any way.

It's time for a fundamental shift in this country, and that isn't going to happen by electing the same old tired politicians year after year. One of the funniest commercials this election season is that of Chuck Grassley (R-IA), who has been in Washington since before I was born. This commercial is listing off all the problems with Washington, and then asking us to send Chuck back to fix them. To which I scream "Haven't you been there for the last 35 years Chuck?!!! What have you been doing?!!! You should be ashamed to run this commercial!"

It is for this reason that I think the Tea Party is really good for this country, though the Democrats and media surely disagree. The people running as Tea Party candidates are not career politicians. They are grandmothers, businessmen and women and ranchers who are fed up with politics as usual and are trying to do something about it. They know what it's like to live outside the political class and they see where this country is headed if things don't change. I am praying that as many Tea Party candidates as possible are elected tomorrow, and I'll be doing my part.

For the first time in my life as a voter, I'm doing a protest vote tomorrow. I'm not voting for any incumbents, save for my local state representative. I am voting 3rd party for Governor of Iowa and I am writing in a candidate for the US Senate. I know that my candidates won't win, but I'm tired of holding my nose and voting for the lesser of two evils. Tomorrow is the beginning of what I hope will be a fundamental shift in this country. I hope to see you all out there with me voting for real change...for a change.

The Ultimate Super Hero

About an hour ago, I was at Wendy's with my son. We were talking about super heroes, because that's what he loves to do. He was telling me who his favorite heroes were, and then he asked me who mine was. I thought about a book I've been reading, and finally told him, Jesus Christ! We only talked for a little while longer before we went back to your typical comic super heroes, but hopefully it got him thinking, and maybe it will get you thinking too.

I mean, just think about it. Jesus is the Son of God, so right there He has a leg up on other super heroes. He can walk on water...pretty cool. He can change water into wine, very fun at parties. He can heal the sick, the blind and the lame...always a good skill to have, especially on a super hero team . He can multiply loaves of bread and fish, so you always have something to eat when Jesus is around. He's a natural leader...look at all the people who would follow Him around and hang on His every word. And finally, Jesus defeated the power of death itself...I don't know any other super heroes that can do that (no, Superman doesn't count, because he was only mostly dead after fighting Doomsday).

But seriously, how much better off would the world be if more people thought of Jesus Christ as their hero? If heroes are supposed to be the best examples for us to look up to and try to emulate, there is no better example in all of history than Jesus Christ. I really hope our little chat stuck in my son's brain somewhere, and I hope it sticks in the minds of anyone who reads this blog.