2013 Summer Movies: #17 Gifted Hands the Ben Carson story

Cuba Gooding Jr. stars as Ben Carson, the world renowned neurosurgeon, in this biopic from 2009. The film is not rated but would probably warrant a PG for for violence and some language.  Ben Carson worked on controlling his temper and with his religious convictions overcame his outbursts.  With the support of his mother he overcame his beliefs that he was dumb.  He went on to Johns Hopkins and became one the most famous brain surgeons of our time.  

In the film his mother eventually realized the hold and constraints that the  tv viewing had on her boys.  She limited the tv that he and his brother could watch to two tv programs a week.  When they asked what they would do with the rest of their time she told them she wanted them to read two books a week and  to give a report on each book.  

Carson went on to study music and art in addition to reading numerous books. I though this was an excellent example of how to balance reading and tv to some extent.  One of the shows they watched both before and after the tv restrictions was a quiz game show.  At first they didn't know the answers back when they watched tv everyday.  They started handily answering the questions during the nights that they did watch the quiz show after the switch to more reading time.   Thank you to one of my aunts for suggesting this wonderful movie!  

Author #116: Bil Lepp and the needfulness of little things

The King of Little Things written by Bil Lepp and illustrated by David T. Wenzel.  Published 2013 by Peachtree Atlanta.  What happens when King Normous wants to rule all the world including the King of Little Things?  Read and find out!

Clever illustrations with a wonderful storyline made this a stand out book for how much we rely on little things both alive and inanimate. 

And how wonderful it is to know that there's a God who is aware of each of us and each of us is important to Him just as little things were important to the good king in the story.

Author #115: About CVD with Julie Anderson

As I grew up we called it color blindness but now the more accurate term is CVD-Color Vision Deficiency.  And, just as it was then, there are varying degrees.  A college roommate had a boyfriend who only saw shades of gray  (monochromacy).  I really liked how this book, Erik the Red Sees Green by Julie Anderson and illustrated by David Lopez (published in 2013), describes one form of CVD and how to help.    Here's an example from the book of what Erik sees:

 

You can find more information on the web and specifically at:http://www.colourblindawareness.org/ 

Sunday Randomness #219 Angel Wings

Who are the Angels in your life?

Have you thanked any of them recently?

Author #114: Maryann Cocca-Leffler teaches us with truth and tact

One of the best books we've read on tact.  Princess Kim and too much truth  published in 2011  by Maryann Cocca-Leffler.  After having a lesson in honesty, Kim resolves to always tell the truth with some unkind consequences.  Her teacher shares with her that "Telling the truth doesn't mean you say everything you're thinking."  Kim also learns ways to tell the truth without hurting other people's feelings like finding one little thing that she likes.

Slow Cooker Baked Beans for winter time warmth

 Top picture with some of the ingredients including molasses, kidney beans, pork and beans and butter beans (also sometimes known as lima beans)

Bottom picture of the finished dish topped with cooked bacon.

Baked Beans p. 34 in the VV5th cookbook from 2008
1 lb. ground beef, browned
1 small onion, chopped and sauteed
2/3 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. molasses
1/2 c. catsup
2 T. mustard
1/2 c. BBQ sauce
1/4 tsp. chili powder
1 (16-oz.) can kidney beans
1 (16-oz.) can lima beans
1 (16-oz.) can pork and beans
3 slices bacon, browned and crumbled

Combine all ingredients except bacon in a slow cooker.  Cook on low for 5-6 hours.  Top with bacon.

(Cook's note:  Lima beans and butter beans have a mixed definition- some people say they are the same others that they are different.  I could only find butter beans so that's what I used and we liked them in the dish.  Also, the cans of beans are now 15-oz instead of 16-oz.) 

Author #113: Trees in Israel with Sue Alexander

Text by Sue Alexander with illustrations by Leonid Gore, Behold the Trees chronicles the history of trees in Israel and the Holy Land from thousands of years ago to the present.  Written in 2001, the book tells of the changes in the trees through the years.  With the creation of the independent state of Israel in 1948, the return of trees has greatly increased.  The book also tells of some of the benefits of trees.

I've written about the value of trees before with a post about Wangari Maathai of Africa that can be found here: http://cookingandorscience.blogspot.com/2013/05/authors-107-109-plant-trees-of-wangari.html

Leonid Gore has illustrated many books with his beautiful artwork.  See more at http://www.leonidgore.com/

Chicken Tortilla Soup

 Let the soup season begin! 

Top picture features ingredients.  Second picture is the finished soup topped with cheese and chips.
 

Chicken Tortilla Soup 

(another recipe from our local congregation cookbook that we bought a few years ago)

2 chicken breasts
1 (15-oz.) can stewed tomatoes
1 (15-oz.) can black beans, drained
1 TBSP chopped green chiles, mild
1/2 cup salsa
1 (8-oz.) can tomato sauce
tortilla chips and cheese for topping

Cut chicken into large chunks and place in a large saucepan. Barely cover the chicken with water. Bring the water to a boil and cook chicken until no longer pink.  Remove chicken but do not drain the water.  Shred chicken.  Place chicken back in the saucepan with the water.  Add remaining ingredients and stir until combined.  Heat up and simmer 5 minutes.  Top with chips, cheese, etc...

Sunday Randomness #89: Inconsistencies in Life

• In the winter/spring transition we went through an episode where everyone was sick. Cold, coughs, fevers, headaches, tiredness and/or a combination. One individual remarked, through a haze of fatigue, that we were all decapitated in one way or another. (This was at dinner time so everyone heard the comment.) After the laughter subsided, they back-pedaled and clarified they meant incapacitated.  It was too late, the words had been spoken and we took a vote.  In our virus-plagued condition we agreed that "decapitated" did indeed fit our plight.

Don't attempt to relate simple Bible stories that have similar aspects late at night: 

Person 1: The Lord commanded Moses to build an ark.  Moses built the ark and the animals came aboard.
  
Person 2: Moses?!? It's not Moses, it's Noah. 

Person 1: Oh good, you caught the mistake even though it was unintentional. 

Person 2 (attempting to give some sympathy so Person 1 doesn't feel so bad): It's okay, they both deal with large bodies of water. 

While working on some family history recently I heard more about the story behind the "wrong" date on an ancestor's birthday.  Grandma Zina was born at home and the birth wasn't recorded until the next day.  Hence she always celebrated her birthday one day ahead of the "official" day.  

Her daughter remembers a long argument between Zina and one of her sisters over the official date.  The sister finally responded that Zina could celebrate her birthday whenever she would like to do so, but it would not change the official date.  The sibling still pointed out that the official date was the one that would be used for family history (and legal) information even if it technically was wrong.  

On our personal family list we have had the earlier date in honor of Grandma's actual birthday even if it didn't/doesn't match any official documentation.  This year we included both dates and the story that goes with the inconsistency.

Anytime Muffins: For snacking or breakfast

Anytime Muffins

2 cups flour

1/2 cup sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 egg, slightly beaten

3 tablespoons melted butter or margarine

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Sift flour, sugar, baking powder and salt into a bowl.  In a separate bowl mix the milk, egg and butter. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until flour is moistened. Do not over stir.  Pour into greased muffin pan.  Bake for 16-18 minutes.  Makes 1 dozen.

Recipe is from a cookbook compiled by our ward congregation a number of years ago.  These muffins are simple and basic.  Great with butter and honey and/or jam or plain!

Sunday Randomness #25 More Peaches

The continuing saga of canning peaches...  We bought some more peaches for canning around the first part of October-this time the variety is known as Angela peaches.  The finished bottles of Angela peaches are pictured above-the picture was taken downstairs in the storage room-hence it is not as clear and sharp as the Rosa peaches picture.

They had orange and red skins but a slightly more yellow interior than the Rosa peaches.  Size-wise they are very similar-averaging the size of a softball.  The Angela peaches are also free-stone but they had to be slightly pried from the center of the peaches.  They also required a longer boiling water bath-we scalded them for a full minute rather than 30 seconds and I still had to cut away peach skin.  And the third but most deciding factor that will strongly influence whether we buy them again in the future is taste.  The Rosa peaches were sweet, juicy and had a touch of tangy flavor whereas the Angela peaches were just blah in comparison.  They were still far above store peaches but the Rosa peaches (despite their great tendency to bruise easily) were a grade A peach for canning and Angela peaches I would probably knock down to a B-.

On a side note, my parents canned Elberta peaches this year which probably would get a A- to B+.  The Elberta peaches are more lemon in color both in skin and interior but they are a bit too tart for my taste.  The Elberta peaches are free-stone and the skins slip off easily.  They are also smaller in size-on average about the size of a tennis ball.

Author #112: A new take on an slightly old poem by Julia Donaldson

Alfred Noyes first published his poem, The Highwayman, in 1906 in a Scottish magazine.  Julia Donaldson published The Highway Rat in 2011 with illustrator Axel Scheffler.  Julia's version makes us laugh, Alfred's version makes us cry.  And Loreena McKennitt's song of the Highwayman is one of the most simpatico examples of how to  bring poetry out of obscurity.

Ms. Donaldson's book is a clever new take on the poem with the romance portion now between a rat and food.  I love how she starts the book:

 "The Highway Rat was a baddie.

 The Highway Rat was a beast. 

He took  what he wanted and ate what he took.

 His life was one long feast." 

 The book chronicles the Highway Rat's food thievery-he wants something sweet to eat but gets all manner of other food instead of treats.  This is definitely a book worth reading to find out the humorous  and "poetic" ending for the Highway Rat.

Replacement lighting just in time for Halloween

fluorescent spooky light

getting ready to connect the wires from power to the new light fixture

and the new incandescent light sheds exponentially more light than the old one

We had fluorescent lights in part of the basement and they just kept having flickering, on/off issues- it was watching a scary movie but in our own basement.  You'd flip the switch and it may or may not light up-if it did go on, it was often with only one out of two bulbs and the light would flicker, waver and dim. "Creepy" definitely applied and we weren't going for the haunted house look.  (Although I do think some spiders benefited from the arrangement because we just couldn't see them with the bad lighting.)  So we took on a new lighting project.

We turned off the power to the area in question - this is where the those work lights come in handy-the kind you can plug in with a long oranges extension cord into the outlet a room or two away.  We used one similar to this one featured by Home Depot: http://www.homedepot.com/p/HUSKY-75-Watt-Metal-Shield-Incandescent-Trouble-Light-HD-408PDQ/204222074#.UkOfaz948g8  to light the way for the project.  We took down the old fluorescent lights (and recycled the bulbs through our local household hazardous waste collection events), put up metal housing units for the new lights, connected the power wiring to the wiring of the new fixtures, put on safety nuts, put in a fresh incandescent bulb, turned the power back on, flipped the switch and viola, let there be light!

It's great to actually be able to see in that part of the basement although there's a  certain poetic sadness (but not much)  to the loss of traditional creepy basement lighting (or rather lack thereof).

Sunday Randomness #24 Peaches

Busy canning  peaches...

These particular peaches are the variety known as Rosa.  They had red-orange skins, orange-pink flesh, the skins just slipped right off after a 30 second boiling water bath.  They are free-stone and quite sweet.  They were also large (softball sized) peaches and I had to cut most halves into thirds just to get them in the bottles.  The only drawback would be that they tended to bruise easily but their taste makes up for the delicateness of the peach.  We obtained these the first part of September at the Murray Farmer's Market.

Author #111: Books against Bullying by Erin Frankel

Erin Frankel's series of books by Free Spirit Publishing cover the ever present problem of bullying.  The three books show the same scenario from different perspectives: Dare is told by the bystander, Weird is told by the subject of the bullying and Tough is told by the person doing the bullying.  At the end of each book are steps each one can take to change behavior to getting along instead of victimizing or standing by the side.  Some of the lessons learned include:  In Dare Jayla refuses to take part in the bullying and encourages other kids to help instead of watching.  In Tough Sam learns that taking her anger out on others doesn't help her own situation.  In Weird Luisa learns that she is not to blame if someone bullies her and she doesn't have to change to please them; she can have confidence in herself and what she likes.  For more about the series and steps to prevent and change bullying, visit: http://theweirdseries.com/

2013 Summer Movies: #16 Something The Lord Made

Mos Def and Alan Rickman star in this true life story of  Dr. Thomas and Dr. Blalock who started cardiac surgery in 1944 on a baby suffering from blue baby syndrome.  Through their research, they introduced cardiac surgery to the world (over a million heart surgeries are now performed each year in the US alone) and they also saved countless lives through their research and work on traumatic shock.  Although Vivian Thomas performed almost all the lab work on the shunt process in hundreds of operations on dogs, he was only able to coach Dr. Blalock during the actual human surgeries since he was a lab technician and was not awarded an honorary doctorate from Johns Hopkins until 1976.

The film was made in 2004 and is not rated but would probably get a PG rating for surgical work on both dogs and humans and some language. 

 This was a wonderful film that not only tells Blalock and Thomas's story; it touches briefly on the story of Vivian Thomas's brother, Harold Thomas, and his fight for equal pay for school teachers.  His attorney?  Thurgood Marshall.  They won.  For more information there's another blog post at: http://gdhslawblogwill.wordpress.com/tag/thurgood-marshall/

2013 Summer Movies: #15 Iron Jawed Angels

Iron Jawed Angels came out in 2004 and follows the story of Alice Paul and the NWP (National Woman's Party) after they broke off from the NAWSA (National American Women's Suffrage Association).  Paul's group picketed President Wilson and endured attacks from the public and politicians in their fight to get a Federal amendment giving women the right to vote.  They were arrested on false charges and send to Occoquan Workhouse where they were brutally treated.   The abuses they suffered in the workhouse led to newspaper stories about the abuses and the  suffrage cause.  The press helped the women's cause by revealing the abuses and garnering public sympathy and support for the amendment.

It's not the children's storybook version of the 19th Amendment but it's a powerful story of how hard and how long women from all classes worked for this right to have representation in American government.  The movie is not rated (NR) since it was made for tv but we estimate it would have received a PG-13 for the prison brutality and forced feeding scenes.  Ironically, we started watching this film (it took a few days to finish it) on the 93rd anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment back on August 18, 1920. 

Utah gave women the right to vote in 1870.

2013 Summer Movies: #14 Catch Me If You Can

Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio star in this PG-13 film (for sexual content and brief language).  Based loosely on the true story of a young "unsub" (unknown subject) who mastered check fraud, forgery, and impersonation and managed to pose as an airline pilot, doctor and lawyer all before being caught at the age of 21.  I did always wonder how he managed restitution....

Hedgehog and Daisy were amused by the French substitute teacher impersonation and Mica  noted that they do point out that he passed the Louisiana bar exam on his own. (Although some accounts claim he studied longer than the two weeks mentioned in the movie and that he may have had to take the exam more than once to pass.)  I  appreciated that he changed his life and started helping banks, companies and the government to counter fraud.  You can read an interview with Frank Agagnale from January 2008 with computer dealer news: http://www.computerdealernews.com/news/frank-abagnale-breaks-his-silence/5363

Sunday Randomness #23: The Simple Life

Just a sampling of June colors growing  in our backyard as taken by Daisy.

2013 Summer Movies: #13 Braveheart

Braveheart is rated R for brutal medieval warfare.  How much is freedom worth?  Daisy and Mica thought it was good and Hedgehog added it to her list of favorite movies.  If you wish to learn more then there are a number of sites that discuss the history of William Wallace and Robert the Bruce and other notable historical figures of the time.

2013 Summer Movies: #12 Independence Day

We've got to have a couple of popcorn, solely for entertainment, not really emotionally tense, or mind-bending flicks for the summer and here's one from 1996. Independence Day rated PG-13 for sci-fi destruction and violence.  There's a bunch of well-known names like Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Adam Baldwin, and Brent Spiner just to name a few of the actors in this big budget summer blockbuster.  We thought it was suitably entertaining. And, I appreciated the nod to the old technology of morse code.   You can even get a morse code app for $.99 at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/morse-it/id284942940?mt=8

2013 Summer Movies: #11 Schindler's List

Schindler's List, rated R, released in 1993.  Mica had seen Schindler's List before and said it was good.  Hedgehog echoed the good  but both agreed it's not the kind of film you want to see over and over again.  Daisy will have to wait to see it since she was away at camp when we watched it this time.  At 3 hours and 17 minutes, it is a long film and it is emotionally draining.  The film also shows the power of black and white in a day and age where many things are over-saturated.

You can read more about Oskar Schindler at: http://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/righteous/stories/schindler.asp

2013 Summer Movies: #10 Freedom Writers

Rated PG-13 and dealing with both gangs and the holocaust, this educational film (that was based on the non-fiction book) came out in 2007.  A young idealistic teacher (Erin Gruwell) both teaches and learns from her students.  The Los Angeles Times published an interesting article on January 9, 2007 by Gina Piccalo titled: "Did 'Writers' get it wrong?" wherein Gruwell defends the movie and how it was portrayed.  We liked it and it was a good segue into modern history.  In a less positive twist, we read about a gang related death in our area the day after we finished the movie.  Would it make a difference if any gang members in our area saw this movie?

2013 Summer Movies: #9 Mona Lisa Smile

In 2003 Julia Roberts starred with Maggie Gyllenhaal,  Kirsten Dunst, and Julia Stiles in Mona Lisa Smile, rated PG-13 for thematic issues and sexual content (nothing graphic is shown but there is kissing, implied actions, and things like contraception and affairs are discussed).  The movie is set in the 1950's and Roberts character is the new art teacher at Wellesley College for girls.  She introduced her students to a new way of looking at art and life. 

Sunday Randomness #379 Jack in the Box

We have our very own Jack in the Box!

Doesn't matter the size, if it's a box, it's a second home for Jack!

(He admittedly doesn't like the door shut on his crate but I can get him to go in the crate now and then for practice in case he ever needs to take a trip to the vet or to go on a trip with us.)

2013 Summer Movies: #8 United 93

Released in 2006, rated R for some intense sequences of terror and violence and language. United 93 is not a documentary but feels like one because of the way it was made such as details on passengers given by friends and family and some people actually portraying themselves in the film.  See more info at: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0475276/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv  It was rated R but didn't feel like an R.  We stopped this movie several times to discuss how 9/11 changed the way we travel, communicate, and the chain of command.

2013 Summer Movies: #7 Michael

Michael with John Travolta, Andie MacDowell and William Hurt.  Rated PG and released in 1996.  A decent flick about judging others.  We especially noted the following Hollywoodized tidbits: angels smell good, you can never eat too much sugar, and a cute pie ditty.  I also thought it was an applicable film to watch since it also featured Jean Stapleton who recently passed away in May of 2013 at the age of 90.

2013 Summer Movies: #6 Spellbound

Spellbound is rated G and was released in 2002.  Following 8 finalists to the 1999 National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C., we are introduced to their families and styles for learning the thousands of words used in the contest.  Hedgehog thought the movie was slow at first but once they get to the competition it picks up and is very tense.  Mica and Daisy both liked it.  We agreed it's worth seeing at least once but probably not worth buying.  How many words can you spell? 
(We did think the rumpled giant dictionaries were amusing-we use a dictionary for both spelling and looking up meanings but ours is just a small dictionary-anything more and we just look online.)  We also agreed that many times it's just luck of the draw for the words-the kids who make it to the national level all have a pretty good chance of winning.  Pronunciation can sometimes make or break you so there are benefits to learn how to pronounce words properly.

2013 Summer Movies: #5 The Errand of Angels

Rated PG for dramatic situations, The Errand of Angels stars Erin Chambers and Rachel Emmers in this 2008 work about sister missionaries.  While the film talks some about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, it's primarily about relationships and how the main character learns to build better relationships throughout her mission.  If we start expecting more from others, we need to look first at how much we are contributing to the situation both positively and negatively and focus more on the positive.  Mica and Hedgehog had seen this before so just Daisy and I watched it this time 'round and we both liked it.

2013 Summer Movies: #4 Bend It Like Beckham

Bend It Like Beckham rated PG-13 for language and some sexuality.  This feel good soccer film  was made in 2002 and stars Parminder Nagra, Kiera Knightly and Jonathan Rhys Meyers.  We thought it was very enjoyable with some surprising comedy.    For some interesting highlights contrasting reel life and real life in Bend It Like Beckham, visit: http://espn.go.com/page2/s/merron/031110.html
In 2003 a slightly better known film starring Kiera Knightly came out: Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl.

2013 Summer Movies: #3 The Devil Wears Prada

Released in  2006, The Devil Wears Prada with Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway, Stanley Tucci and Emily Blunt.  Rated PG-13 for some sensuality (the main character has a boyfriend).   When do you say no to your boss?  Who are you willing to step on so that you can get ahead?  And how did they wrangle those advanced copies of Harry Potter?!?  There were clever additions to the movie of asking for the improbable if not impossible.  Hedgehog could see the differences in the color of the belts  and it was a lesson in fashion for myself and Daisy.  This was a fun little spree of a movie into the world of vogue that trickles down to our shopping level.

2013 Summer Movies: #2 Pleasantville

Made in 1998 and starring a host of big name actors such as Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon along with several other familiar screen faces.  Don Knotts has a hilarious role throughout the movie and look for his reaction at the end of the film as he's driving away.

Pleasantville was filmed in color, then individually manipulated to replace color in certain sections of the film.  The effect is succinctly describe here: http://video.about.com/desktopvideo/Pleasantville-Effect-With-Final-Cut.htm

Rated PG-13 for language and thematic elements dealing with sexuality. (It's generally implied that people turn to color after engaging in some sort of sexual behavior but people can also turn to color for other reasons such as love, anger or even just things not in the norm for that individual.)

The movie creates a good background for discussing everything from art to book banning and censorship to racism and nudity vs. pornography to sexuality. When do we stand up as opposed to when we stand "with the crowd" and go along?  The standing with the crowd and the standing up happens on both sides of the color situation in Pleasantville, giving a nice contrast of how hard it can be to determine which side to join in some battles because both sides have tenants with which we agree.   The last movie, Stand and Deliver, was pretty straight forward and definitely worth watching with some discussion thrown in.   We just ended up discussing Pleasantville quite a bit more both during and after the movie.

2013 Summer Movies: #1 Stand and Deliver

Stand and Deliver rated PG made in 1988 starring Edward James Olmos, Andy Garcia, and Lou Diamond Phillips.  Educational movie about Calculus and the AP test.  Daisy didn't think that she would like it but she did. Hedgehog said it was good and the teacher was funny.  Mica also liked this film

Sunday Randomness # 401: Life Flight in the Intermountain West

 

Sharing a video from a safety demonstration. (Lift off is around the 45 second mark.) Learn more about Life Flight at: http://intermountainhealthcare.org/services/lifeflight/Pages/home.aspx

Author #110: Maritcha as biographied by Tonya Bolden

Born in 1848, Maritcha lived in lower Manhattan  for the first part of her life. After the Draft Riots her family moved to Rhode Island.  When she reached high school there was no where for her to go to school.  Maritcha spoke before the Rhode Island state legislature at the age of 16 to petition them to grant that she be allowed to attend the Girls' Department of Providence High.  Her plea was granted.  In her compositions she often wrote about slavery, the Draft Riots, the Civil War and the Underground Railroad.  A teacher questioned the sincerity of the pieces and their authenticity-suggesting that Maritcha had used her imagination.  "'The half has never been told.' was Maritcha's typical terse response."  Maritcha later became a teacher.  Maritcha: A Nineteenth -Century American Girl  was written by Tonya Bolden after she read Maritcha's memoir written after Maritcha retired as an Assistant Principal in Brooklyn, New York.

Sunday Randomness #29 BYU Fudge

Pralines and Cream Fudge-caramel, pecans and white fudge

Italian Cream Fudge-swirls of milk chocolate fudge with a browned sugar type fudge

German Chocolate Fudge-milk chocolate fudge with a coconut topping

pecans, caramel, white fudge and dark chocolate fudge

same as fudge above-don't remember the name-it was the fudge of the day

Milk chocolate fudge with walnuts

side view of walnut/milk chocolate fudge

Available in these flavors and more at the BYU bookstore in Provo, UT.    ( We bought the fudge for our own delicious consumption and were not paid, compensated or otherwise given any incentive to write the post other than our opinion that the BYU bookstore has great fudge.)