Time-lapsed Blogography Day: Fifteen Years Ago Today

Fifteen years ago today, on September 23, 2005, I took my first trip back to Tallahassee since my grad school career ended in 2003.

Following an extended delay in Atlanta due to a broken plane, I arrived in Tallahassee and had dinner at the classiest of restaurants, Applebee's, with Mike and Kathy. We then went to Mike's apartment at 222 Lake Ella Drive because Kathy wanted to teach us a new board game, Settlers of Catan. (Got any sheep?)

I only kept 2 pictures from my brief weekend trip -- one of Chompy (the dog), who was surprisingly fit, and one of Kathy's real-adult-looking apartment, where I spent the night to avoid getting diseases from Mike's futon.

The last time I hung out with Mike in person was July 2019, and I saw Kathy just last Monday the 14th! In contrast, I haven't seen Evil Mike since before the pandemic, and Doobie since 2006.

Recipe Day: Crispy Broiled Shrimp

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb thawed, peeled, deveined, legless shrimp
• 1/8 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 1 tablespoon shredded or grated parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
• lemon juice

Directions

1. Place shrimp on a foil-lined broiler pan at room temperature. Coat with melted butter, breadcrumbs, cheese, and parsley.
2. Set broiler to HIGH and broil shrimp about 4 inches from the heating element for 4 minutes. Shrimp are ready when no longer translucent.
3. Spritz with lemon juice and serve!

I like how quickly and evenly shrimp turn out in the toaster oven -- you can quick thaw frozen shrimp about 15 minutes beforehand and have lunch, dinner, or a snack ready in minutes. Maia immediately inhaled 4 shrimp the first time I made this, so you know it's good.

Review Day

There are no major spoilers in these reviews.

His Dark Materials, Season One:
This is a solid adaptation of Book 1, The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman. (I enjoyed the first two books but thought that the 3rd was an imploded mess, not unlike the 3rd Hunger Games book). Great performances and decent CGI keep the story moving, and even Rebecca liked it. The only flaw in the structure of the story was introducing a character from Book 2 early on to get their scenes out of the way -- while it makes sense not to have to backtrack in the next season, nothing truly happened in any of that character's scenes.

Final Grade: B

Seven Mirrors by Drapht:
A fine but forgettable Australian hip-hop album. Good hooks that fall apart if you listen more closely to them, like an entire song where the chorus is just "I'm feeling bad, bad, bad" repeated ad nauseum. Also, the trend of putting skits on hip-hop albums between songs needs to stop.

Final Grade: B-

Get Duked! (R):
This movie is like Hunt for the Wilderpeople mashed up with Get Out and it's as awesome as that sounds. The needle stays strictly on the comedy side vs. horror, and the tone remains pleasant with plenty of bro-mance. A particular scene when an aspiring rapper stumbles across a small farming community is perfectly storyboarded. Free on Amazon Prime.

Final Grade: A

3%, Season Four:
The final season of 3% ends the story well enough while giving most of the characters plenty of space for denouement. A few characters flip-flop just for the sake of plot, which is disappointing because earlier seasons did so well at avoiding this classic flaw that always happens in The 100. The final episode is way too long and feels a little tacked on, but the ending doesn't stray very far from the conceit of what came before. Free on Netflix.

Final Grade: B-

Birth Day

Chad Darnell's 12 of 12

12 pictures of your day on the 12th of every month

7:58 AM: Showered and ready for the day.

8:22 AM: Bagel and smoked salmon for breakfast on our mountain deck.

8:44 AM: She believes she can fly.

9:41 AM: Playing Othello for the first time. "You're trying to make sandwiches and turn the lunch meat into bread."

10:39 AM: Hike around Lake Laura with our vacation quarantine pod.

11:35 AM: "Tired of walking" after 0.5 miles.

1:05 PM: View of lunch from the video game nook.

5:34 PM: 7 Wonders and Colouring while I make dinner.

5:41 PM: Broiled filet mignon with a Worchestershire marinade, mushrooms, and hot dogs for kids. Paired with a 2014 tempranillo.

6:38 PM: Blowing COVID everywhere.

7:08 PM: Birthday group shot.

7:13 PM: Presents!