Lemon Shake Ups

Carrie and I were up in Illinois for the Labor-Day weekend, and were able to spend some time at the annual Pittsfield Fall Festival, which takes place around the historic courthouse in the town square. There was a parade, carnival rides (including the Scrambler), a series of beauty pageants for different age groups, and, believe it or not, a ska band. The star attraction, though, was the food. The pulled pork sandwich from Uncle Pickle’s booth was delicious, the kettle corn was some of the best I’ve had, and the tenderloin sandwich wasn’t too shabby. My beverage of choice? Lemon shake ups, sold by the Pittsfield volunteer fire department for $1 each and made from scratch per order. They are like lemonade, but sweeter, fresher-tasting and a little frothy. Here’s a recipe:

1/2 lemon
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup crushed ice

Squeeze juice from lemon. Mix all ingredients together. Shake.

Double Double Feature

Carrie and I have been enjoying the excellent Summer Film Series at the Paramount Theatre. On August 3rd, we saw both The Black Cat (1934) and The Mummy (1932). This was our first time seeing both films. The Black Cat has a pretty weak plot -  A couple has car trouble, winds up in a creepy house, and hijinks ensue. It is watchable because it features both Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi as adversaries, delivering strange lines and creepy stares. The Mummy, on the other hand, not only features Karloff as the mummy Im-ho-tep, but has an actual story to tell. It is fascinating how little could actually be shown on screen in the 1930s – it cuts away right as a doctor is about to give a patient a shot in the arm, and we see the husband flinch. In lieu of actual gore, there are lots of suggestive shadows, screams, and reaction shots.

On Sunday, we spent our afternoon enjoying cold air conditioning and watching a sci-fi double feature: First up was The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951), followed by Forbidden Planet (1956). Again, this was our first time seeing both films, and they were both great. Day was definitely the more serious of the two, delivering an anti-violence message with a tough love attitude. Forbidden Planet had a message, but it was more about exploring a strange alien world. With tigers. The theremin was in full effect in both films, used for both music and sound effects – very cool stuff. Of course, the real question here is: Which robot would win in a fight? I am pretty sure that Gort could take out Robby the Robot, but you have to admit that Robby has a lot more charm. Plus, he makes good booze and fancy dresses. What more could you ask for in a robot?

Salsa Champ

Yesterday, I entered a salsa in a contest at my company’s annual summer picnic – and I won first place! Huge thanks to Steve for supplying the recipe, which he found years ago in California:

Sundried Cranberry Salsa

1.5 cups diced tomatoes
3/4 cup diced jicama
1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
1/4 cup diced red onion
4 tablespoons sundried cranberries
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 habanero chile, minced
2.5 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and allow
flavors to marry for a while before serving.
Keep refrigerated. Makes approximately one quart.

I prefer my salsas less chunky and more liquid-y, so I tossed everything in the food processor for a while. That being said, I think next time I will process everything except the jicama, and add it in afterwards to give it some crunch. Be careful with the habanero – you may want to handle it with kitchen gloves on. If you decide to make this recipe, give me a shout and let me know how it turns out.

The Maelstrom

A little over a week ago, I was exposed to a massive dose of Legos at the Lego Imagination Center in Downtown Disney. Given that information, it should come as no surprise that last weekend, I assembled Lego Model 7048, aka Troll Warship. Cower in fear of the Maelstrom!

A dragon vs the Maelstrom - Who will win?

Disney World Vacation

For our vacation this year, we chose to spend a week at Disney World in Orlando, Florida, and it was awesome!

Cinderella's Castle

Some of our favorite moments were seeing the big fireworks show in the Magic Kingdom on our first night, catching La Nouba, the Cirque du Soleil show, and riding classic rides like Pirates of the Caribbean (twice!), Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (twice!), and the Mad Tea Party:

Teacups!

During our time in Animal Kingdom, Carrie used her cat-like reflexes to completely dominate a game of Whack-a-Dino and walk away with a large stuffed dinosaur! We immediately named her Bertha:

Bertha & Carrie

Apparently, we were just a week or so shy of the big re-opening of the Hall of Presidents, featuring an animatronic President Obama. Plus, we also missed this:

There are a lot more pictures over in the photo gallery. Have a Magical Day!

Sunday Papercraft

This afternoon, Carrie and I cut, folded, and taped together a bunch of  stuff from Paper Foldables. Behold:

Pinata, Hero, Krang, V Guy, Parrot

Each figurine has a special feature: The pinata splits in half so that you can stuff him with candy, the hero has a sword that fits in his hand, Krang is removable from his robot body, V guy’s face flips back to reveal his true reptilian visage, and the parrot has a removable bandanna/eyepatch. Neat!

Gimme Some

I got to guest star in Grupo Fantasma‘s latest music video, Gimme Some. If you pay attention and don’t blink, you will see me sporting a fake mustache and juggling clubs for at least 1 full second at the 1:45 mark. Yeah!

Happy Birthday, Eeyore!

We went to Pease Park to participate in Eeyore’s Birthday Party today, and had a blast hanging out with friends, juggling, and people watching. I am disappointed to report that, unlike past years, I did not see the dude who paints himself silver and walks around in a thong. I did see Leslie wearing a cheerleader uniform though, so I guess it’s a wash.

Old Settler’s Music Festival

Carrie and I went to the Old Settler’s Music Festival out in Driftwood on Saturday. It rained in the morning, but by the time we got there, it was merely overcast, and the sun showed up a few hours later. Here are some of our favorite musical acts:

• Lone Star Swing – Great group. One of my favorite moments of the day was when Paul Glasse, the mandolin player, ripped into an acoustic version of Air Mail Special. It was an amazing song, but I would love to hear a mashup with the Ella Fitzgerald version, with her vocals on top of Paul’s mandolin.
  
• Dan Navarro – I thought Dan was ok. Carrie really dug his version of We Belong To The Night.
• Sarah Jarosz – Excellent music. She rotated between playing the banjo, guitar and mandolin, which kept it fresh. Sarah is one of those teenagers who burst onto the scene, amazed everyone, won a bunch of awards, and is now touring the world. That is both awesome and a bit depressing.
  
• The Lovell Sisters – Three sisters, three instruments: mandolin, fiddle, dobro. They had some great vocal harmony moments, which I am always a sucker for.
• The Travelin’ McCoury’s – Best set of the day. Traditional bluegrass, performed by masters. Thinking back, I don’t have any particular favorite moments – it was like a huge wall of sonic excellence.
• The Travelin’ McCoury’s & The Lee Boys – This was an interesting experiment – a fusion of bluegrass and sacred steel.  Their cover of Walking in Jerusalem was especially fun to listen to – I lost track of how many times they passed solos around.

Easter Eggs

Carrie, Christina and I dyed a bunch of eggs for Easter. This is the first time I’ve dyed eggs in a really long time, and I’m quite happy with the results:

Star Wars Eggs

Marbled Eggs