We saw the Blue Scholars at the TBTL Live show in Seattle a few weeks ago….

So here it is, the big Summer 2009 movies list. Summer and Fall tend to be my two favorite movie times of the year, spring is always painful with never much choice. Summer usually brings with it a handful of Huge Blockbuster hopefuls, lots of special effects, and a variety of comedies. Fall movies tend to also have some pretty good comedies and it’s when you’ll find some of the best dramas of the year. My list jumps all over the place from predictable Blockbuster to independent comedy, there’s even a dark ScFi on the list this time. If you watch any of the below movies, please share your comments as we all figure out what to watch this summer.

5/15 – Angels & Demons (trailer | RT)
5/29 – The Brothers Bloom (trailer | RT)
6/5 – Away We Go (trailer | RT)
6/12 – Moon (trailer | RT)
7/1 – Public Enemies (trailer | RT)
7/10 – Bruno (trailer | RT)
7/10 – Weather Girl (trailer | RT)
7/17 – 500 Days of Summer (trailer | RT)
7/19 – Whatever Works (trailer | RT)
7/24 – Adam (trailer | RT)
7/31 – Funny People (trailer | RT)
8/7 – Cold Souls (trailer | RT)
8/14 – The Goods (trailer | RT)
9/4 – Extract (trailer | RT)

I seem to have hit some type of internet treasure cove of comedy this evening, lots of quality stuff….  why not share?

“Look Around You” (Video)

A 2005 BBC comedy that poses itself as a 1980’s science and technology educational program… It’s like the Office meets “321 Contact”.  It’s been shown recently on Adult Swim as well.

“Dynamic Pawn” (Video)

A hidden web gem, this amazing Pawn shop commercial must be from another decade itself, but don’t take it’s advice on how to choose a gift for your loved one. (Crazy Bruce’s Liquor also gets a nod for amazing commercial).

“You Look Nice Today” (Website)

It’s always good to find a quality podcast, and I think this one might be going on heavy rotation on my iPod soon.  The website describes the show this way; “You Look Nice Today is an audio-based Journal of Emotional Hygiene… The three hosts met on Twitter.com, and soon realized that none of them had anything better to do than this. And Twitter.”  If this just sounds like a few nerds recording a podcast, you’re right… but its very funny, and occasionally/regularly features John Hodgeman.

“Stuff That Insists On Being Looked At” (Website)

A Cool photoblog

Funny Newspaper Ad Parody (Video)

Ok, this one somehow makes me very happy, and is incredibly funny…. but it isn’t a video about “Kittens inspired by Kittens” so I don’t get it.  Maybe its because I want to have a snobby East Coast sense of humor – I think this might fall into that category. Regardless, it makes fun of newspapers – and features Michael Ian Black, along with Paul Rudd… so it must be good.

“Japanese Dole Banana Commercial” (Video)

Late addition to this evening’s list – but talk about hidden internet jems, this video probably isn’t even very searchable in YouTube because the entire description and title are in Japanese…. but its one of the greatest commercials in all time.  If all retailers in the US could advertise like this, there would be no recession.

Man, more food posts – it really has been a fun month experimenting with cooking at home more and messing around with recipes.  We made this latest meal for our small group bible study on Tuesday night because we had most of the ingredients already at home. Good thing it worked out and tasted great… otherwise we might have been banned from bringing dinner again.

• 1.5 lbs bulk Italian sausage or lean ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley (or 2 dried)
• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (or 2 dried)
• 2 tablespoons crushed red pepper
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 2 Cans (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 Cans (10 oz) tomato puree
• 1/4 cup water

• 2 eggs
• 1 container (15 oz) ricotta cheese (or 2 cups small curd cottage cheese)
• 1 Cup grated parmesan cheese
• 4 cups shredded mozzarella
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano

• enough lasagna noodles to make 3 layers in a 13×9 pan (8 or 12 noodles, depending on brand)

1. Cook beef, and onion in a skillet over medium heat, stirring occasionally until brown; drain, set aside
2. Brown garlic, Mix Tomatoes, tomato puree, water; stir.  Add 3 tablespoons of the parsley, the basil, red pepper, and sugar, simmer for 15 minutes stirring occasionally.
3. Combine half of tomato mixture with cooked ground beef or sausage.
4. Cook lasagna noodles as directed by the box (or set aside noodles that don’t need to be pre-cooked)
5. In medium bowl, beat eggs. Sir in ricotta, 2 cups of mozzarella, 1/2 cup Parmesan, oregano, and remaining 1 tablespoon of parsley.
6. Spread 1/2 of the meat&tomato mixture (about 2 cups) on the bottom of a 13×9x2 baking dish. (Leaving 1/2 meat/tomato mixture, along with all of the “just tomato” mixture).
7. cover sauce with one layer of noodles (approx 4 noodles)
8. spread one half of the ricotta mixture over noodles, add 1/2 of the “just tomato” mixture, and sprinkle with 1 cup of mozzarella, add another layer of noodles.
9. spread second half of the ricotta mixture over noodles, add the second half of meat/tomato mixture, and add final layer of noodles.
10. spread second half of “just tomato” mixture over noodles, sprinkle with final cup of mozzarella and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese.
11. Bake, covered with foil at 350 degrees, 30 minutes for boiled noodles – 50-60 minutes for uncooked noodles until bubbly.  Uncover, and continue cooking until cheese is melted.  Let stand 15 minutes before cutting.  Makes 10 servings.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 cups quick cooking oats
• 1 egg
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup raisins
• 3/4 cup chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Sift the flour together with the soda, salt, and cinnamon. Stir in the oats. Combine the other ingredients and add them to the flour mixture, stirring thoroughly.
3. Drop by tablespoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake 8 to 15 minutes. Remove to wire rack to cool.

This should be the last of the Iditarod mentions on this blog until next spring when Iditarod 2009 kicks off in March (I normally save all mushing posts for my other blog – iditablog.com).  I did want to remind everyone one last time though that this evening will be the premier of “Toughest Race on Earth: Iditarod” on the Discovery Channel.  It will be the most comprehensive look at the Iditarod to date as it seeks to follow not just the leaders of the race (as most coverage has done in the past) but those all through the entire pack of mushers.  There were nearly 30 teams that were outfitted with cameras during last years race.  The production company that has been working on this show for the last 8 months is the same group that has done the very high quality, and very entertaining “Deadliest Catch” and “Ice Road Truckers”.

The video below is 2-time consecutive Iditarod Champion Lance Mackey appearing recently on Conan O’Brian to promo the Discovery show.

UPDATE: 10/18 – I updated the post to actually include a video of Lance on Conan, along with keeping the video of Mackey listening to Jeff King after Lance’s close 2008 Iditarod victory.

Its been another big month, for both us and really the world in general.  We’re less than 30 days away from what I believe is turning out to be one of the biggest elections in American history.  Some of the links this round are politically related, but in ways other than focusing on the candidates themselves.  So, take a look and enjoy what I’ve enjoyed reading the most over the last few weeks.

Olympus previews next generation Digital SLR, with style

It’s called “micro four thirds” technology, and its going to make our digital pictures crisper, cleaner, and more colorful.  It allows camera manufacturers to create cameras with the quality of DSLR cameras, in a smaller and lighter package.  Olympus showed off a prototype of this new format recently that is both small, but also could be the most stylish digital camera we’ve seen in quite a long time.

The 269 tie: An electoral college ‘doomsday’?

This Washington Times article poses the interesting question, what would happen if on election day, there was a tie in electoral college votes?  The constitution tries to clarify what the procedure would be, but that isn’t even clean enough.  “Sound impossible? It’s not. There are at least a half-dozen plausible ways the election can end in a tie” We’re looking at one of those scenarios right now if the candidates hold onto the states they are leading in, with the exception of New Hampshire (which went Republican in 2000 and Democratic in 2004, each time by just 1.5 percent). This would make the 2000 election look like a student council runoff.

Covering Sarah Palin campaign from the Nome front

Steve Lopez, whom I found to be a bit snarky, and very sarcastic recently flew all the way from Los Angeles to Nome Alaska to cover the Sarah Palin campaign and talk to some “real Alaskans”.   Its an offbeat article that inverviews many people that we knew from living in Nome a few years ago…. and does provide some true Nome local flavor.

China prematurely describes space flight in article before it ever happens

China’s official news agency posted a story on their website describing in detail, and with quotes from astronauts the success of the country’s first space flight. The problem was that the flight wasn’t due to launch for another few days.  This takes running prepared obituaries to a whole new level, and makes you question how the news is reported in the world’s most powerful communist country.

The fall movie season is my favorite of the year.  Its when good films premier and they aren’t as concerned about being a summer or thanksgiving / Christmas blockbuster.  Last fall I remember seeing “American Gangster”, “Michael Clayton”, “Dan in Real Life” and “Gone Baby, Gone” all within a few weeks of each other and being blown away at the quality of each film.  This fall there is another lineup of great, and creative movies.  Ghost Town stars “The Office” creator Ricky Gervais and looks to be a funny and original comedy.  “Battle in Seattle” is intriguing to me because of the local flavor in this movie… I remember watching and listening to the news during this event in 1999.  A Thousand Years of Good Prayers is going into limited release this month, hopefully it will go into wider distribution soon.  Flash of Genius and Changeling are the two films on this list that I’m anticipating the most…. although I’m a bit apprehensive with Genius, hopefully the movie can live up to the trailer and won’t disappoint.  James Bond, and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button will close out the fall movie season and will lead into the holidays.

Take a look at the trailers, form your own opinions, and enjoy!

√ Burn After Reading – Open (Rotten Tomatoes | Trailer)
Ghost Town – Sept 19 (Rotten Tomatoes | Trailer)
Battle in Seattle – Sept 19 (Rotten Tomatoes | Trailer)
A Thousand Years of Good Prayers – Sept 19 (Rotten Tomatoes | Trailer)
√ Eagle Eye – Sept 26 (Rotten Tomatoes | Trailer)
Appaloosa – Oct 3 (Rotten Tomatoes | Trailer)
Flash of Genius – Oct 3 (Rotten Tomatoes | Trailer)
√ Body of Lies – Oct 10 (Rotten Tomatoes | Trailer)
Changeling – Oct 31 (Rotten Tomatoes | Trailer)
James Bond: Quantum of Solace – Nov 14 (Rotten Tomatoes | Trailer)
The Road – Nov 26 (imdb)
Time Travelers Wife – November (Rotten Tomatoes)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button – Christmas (Trailer)

I already included this in a “links of our lives” post a while back, but the dates have just been announced for the upcoming Discovery Channel series on the 2008 Iditarod, along with a trailer for the show…. its looking good!  This is the same production company that has done “The Deadliest Catch” along with other Discovery favorites.  In a few weeks I’ll ramp up the iditablog in preparation for the series premier!

Check out the :60 second promo below:

TOUGHEST RACE ON EARTH: IDITAROD

World Premiere Series Begins Tuesday, October 14 at 10PM ET/PT

Discovery Channel continues its exploration into and chronicling of the fascinating world around us with the groundbreaking six-part series TOUGHEST RACE ON EARTH: IDITAROD.  Defining adventure programming, the world premiere series provides a rare look into one of the harshest races in one of the most beautiful and challenging places on the planet – The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.  Across frozen rivers, barren tundra, mountains and thick forest in freezing temperatures, this grueling 1,150 mile race from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska puts mushers and their dog teams through the ultimate test of human and animal teamwork and endurance.  Filmed in March 2008, this series tells stories through the eyes of the men and women who dared to take on the ultimate test of human and animal teamwork and endurance.  The intense preparation and training of race veterans and rookies alike show what it takes to compete not only against each other, but also Mother Nature.

You may notice the the new look here at northslope, along with the facelift I merged the blog with the front page.  You can find a past and future blog posts right here, along with photo updates and all the other usual fun northslope stuff!