Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas!

Christmas time is here

Wow, Christmas is just around the corner and I have been really delinquent with posts. Let's see, what are somethings that have happened?

The Mrs. and I picked up our Christmas tree the first weekend of December. Although we don't have a huge space, this is the biggest tree we have had yet, coming in at just over six feet:

We were unboxing the decorations for the tree when I received a phone call from a family member. By the time I got off the phone and turned back to help, T had basically decorated the whole tree by herself! Did I mention she really likes Christmas, as well as decorations that have snowmen?

Also, much to my surprise, I received an early Christmas present a few days later that will appeal to my fellow comic book geeks out there:

Marvel Minimates : Heralds of Galactus! If you look closely enough, you'll agree I fall well within the recommendation of "Ages 8+". What can I say, my wife really "gets" me.

Lastly, I wanted to share five Christmas albums that have received heavy play this December:


A Charlie Brown Christmas: I've listened to this album probably once a day, every work day this month. My Spotify auto-posts on Facebook will confirm that.


Chris Tomlin - Glory in the Highest: An excellent Christmas worship album that features songs both new and old.


A Very She and Him Christmas: If you like She and Him's other albums, and like Christmas music, you probably already own this album.


Phil Wickham - Songs For Christmas: This album has some great arrangements of Christmas hymns


Elf: Music from the Motion Picture: Have you watched Elf already this year? A very fun contemporary classic that has a great soundtrack to boot.

And with that we come to the end of the post! Readers, I leave you with an image of one of my favorite beers for Sam Adams "Winter Offerings" variety pack:

Samuel Adams Chocolate Bock

Santa Batman

Man, what's NOT to like about this poster?

Wookie bento

I will never look at soba noodles the same again.

Motivational Moonwalking

See more on the original post at Mightgodking.com.

I Love Breakfast: Dunkin Donuts' Smokehouse Sausage Breakfast Sandwich

The Dunkin Donuts Smokehouse Sausage Breakfast sandwich gets a thumbs up from me!

The sausage delivers on the smoky flavor and had the appropriate amount of "snap" that one should expect in an encased sausage. This is a good choice for breakfast sandwich fans who want something a little different in the rotation.

The secret is bacon fat

The wife and I have been trying harder to cook more regularly, not only as a means to save some money but to keep our culinary skills sharpened. We decided to get back in the swing of things with some meat and potatoes:

First crack at cooking a porterhouse. Turns out, not that much different than cooking any other steak with a cast iron skillet. Unfortunately my pictures of the final product didn't come out great and I achieved more of a medium as opposed to the intended medium-rare. It was still tasty and discovered that Taryn share's my love of A1 Steak Sauce.

We got a great crust on these roasted potatoes with garlic. I credit the residual bacon fat I left on the baking sheet.

Say hello to my little friend

Yes, I was JUST talking about this little Line 6 M9 multi-effects unit, and lo and behold, a used one appeared for a very good price the week of Thanksgiving. We'll see how it plays with my other pedals, but from just an initial hour of messing around with it, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship...

Once upon an Advent, in a galaxy far, far away...

Spotted at Target: Star Wars 2011 Advent Calendar! Gotta love Santa Yoda.

Photos: Los Angeles/Santa Barbara, CA

The Mrs. and I had the opportunity recently to fly out to California for a wedding earlier November. Here is a photo dump of that excellent trip of food, friends, and festivities. Congratulations again Rob & Stephanie!

Touchdown LAX. First stop? In 'n Out! A modest 1x1, animal style of course.

Lilly's Tacos: beef head, tongue, cheek, eye, and adobada pork

 

 

A stellar venue and menu

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Video round up: Zelda, Sesame Street, & Pikachu

Here are some videos I came across recently that I just had to share:

Zelda Medley aka Girl dressed up as Link prancing around in the forest with her violin


Bert and Ernie recording for TomTom GPS (behind the scenes)


Pokemon: Ash teaches Pikachu how to fart

Thinning the herd of pedals

I'm currently in "pedal purge" mode and had the pleasure of trying out cmatmods Signa Comp earlier in the month after receiving it in a trade for my MXR Carbon Copy (which, btw is a great analog delay, but based on current needs, it seemed silly to have both this and my t.c. electronics Nova Delay). While a solid compressor pedal with minimal to no hiss, I did wind up selling it on craigslist after a friend helped me realize based on the guitar I play and the setting I play in (church), the benefits were minimal.

Other pedals on the chopping block include my Keeley modded TR-2 tremolo pedal and my Crybaby Classic wah pedal. Both don't see much use and I hope to find them a good home soon.

Who else will be on the chopping block?

I'm flirting with the idea of selling off all/most of my non-dirt pedals and just springing for a used M9 by Line 6:

This could be a compact and elegant way to have access to playful/non-essential effects and I've only heard great things about this unit. There's even a looper and tuner on this thing!

In the end, these past few months I'm just really trying to understand the gear that I do have, instead of the constant stream of trying new pedals, re-selling, buying etc, which is great as I'm really trying to be faithful with. I hope this isn't only a temporary conviction with this specific hobby/interest, but something that I can really absorb and apply holistically, because I really need God's strength to overcome some serious hoarding/collecting tendencies, as my boxes of comic books in our office that need to be donated or sold would agree.

Where's Waldo?

Wow, this really is an awkward mash-up of our childhood heroes and provocative social commentary.

Like the design? Buy the tee at Threadless.

McDonald's Peanuts Glasses

Did anyone else have these in their homes growing up? I fondly remember having the first glass in the photo above, with Charlie Brown struggling in his inflatable. I loved using that glass as a kid, and my Mom being a big fan of the Peanuts gang plays a huge influence over my nostalgia for all things Snoopy.

Even Superman hates Aquaman

Even Superman hates Aquaman...and apparently his pal Jimmy Olsen in this case.

Bat-Cat

It's cute, it's nostalgic, it's got Batman...what more could you ask for?

This reminds me of another clip from Family Guy...

Today's show was brought to you by the number 12

Has anyone else ever gotten this song stuck in their head? You've gotta love the 70's groove and classic animation. It's funny the things you remember from your childhood...

City Harmonic - Manifesto

Manifesto
By: City Harmonic

A buddy of mine turned me onto this video early September and I forgot to share it. Great song, let it get you pumped for the day :)

Batman Slaps Robin

This just cracks me up every time I see it.

When Death Dies (Acoustic), by Gungor

When Death Dies (Acoustic Performance)
By: Gungor

I can't get enough out of this video. As I've shared other Gungor videos in the past, I always wind up these more acoustic takes than what winds up on the actual album. Incidentally, this track is on their newest album,  Ghosts Upon the Earth, which I've been really enjoying. Talk about taking worship music to another level! If  that "genre" doesn't do it for you, I highly recommend taking a free spin of the album via the previews on Amazon.com, you won't be disappointed...unless you hate awesome music.

Tauntaun Love

Friends don't let friends wear sketchy costumes.

Happy Halloween!

I pity the foo...

I really doubt that any other Halloween costume will top this Asian baby dressed as Mr. T. So wrong...yet so right.

Happy Friday everyone!

Board Games: Acquire

Photo taken with instagram.

I was recently taught the board game Acquire and if you're someone who really like the real estate development aspect of Monopoly, or just think that the concept of capitalism is the best thing since sliced bread, this might be the game for you. I'm terrible at describing games, especially in a succinct way, so here's the official product description from Amazon.com:

This Sid Sackson classic has taken many different forms over the years depending on the publisher. Each player strategically invests in businesses, trying to retain a majority of stock. As the businesses grow with tile placements, they also start merging, giving the majority stockholders of the acquired business sizable bonuses, which can then be used to reinvest into other chains. All of the investors in the acquired company can then cash in their stocks for current value or trade them 2-for-1 for shares of the newer, larger business. The game is a race to acquire the greatest wealth. The original version is part of the 3M Bookshelf Series.

Ok...that may or may not have helped. I'm not sure why they call them "businesses", you're building and investing in hotel chains. Anyhow, I had a great time learning this game and I look forward to playing it again despite losing--BADLY, by tens of thousands of dollars--in my first venture.

Interested? Read more about it this one on BoardGameGeek.

Smitten with the Telecaster

I've been bitten by the gear-bug and I'm itching to test drive some telecasters at Guitar Center.

I still remember a few years back, when someone suggested this style guitar when I was looking to pick up my very first electric. Unfortunately, the clunky body of the telecaster couldn't stand up against the sexiness of the stratocaster I wound up purchasing, pictured below:

One major factor that has me thinking twice now is the simplicity of the telecaster. I mean, sometimes you just want to bang out some chords (and not hit your pick up switch by accident)! Granted, I have a long way to go in terms of improving in my craft, and for that subtle work, I think the strat will be perfect, but hey, trying some teles at the store doesn't necessarily mean a purchase...right?

In particular, I've heard amazing things about the Squier Classic Vibe 50's Telecaster which are made in China and cost about $350 at full retail and a really great price for a solid electric guitar. While any new instrument benefits from a professional set up, many have reported these to be fantastic straight out of the box.

Luckily I have some time to let this all stew as we'll be busy the next few weekends...

October

Taken with instagram

I Love Breakfast: Amish Breakfast Casserole

I tried out this super simple and super delicious recipe for Amish Breakfast Casserole  that I found on AllRecipes.com. This recipe is just begging to be customized with your favorite breakfast ingredients: ham, sausage, peppers, tomatoes, whatever you fancy really. One thing my wife and I did was increase the amount of eggs to 8 instead of 6, just to balance out the egg-to-potato ratio. 

Here's the recipe below, let me know if you give it a try!

Ingredients

• 1 pound sliced bacon, diced
• 1 medium sweet onion, chopped
• 6 eggs, lightly beaten
• 4 cups frozen shredded hash brown potatoes, thawed
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 1/2 cups small curd cottage cheese
• 1 1/4 cups shredded Swiss cheese

Directions

1. In a large skillet, cook bacon and onion until bacon is crisp; drain. In a bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; stir in bacon mixture. Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. x 2-in. baking dish.
2. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until set and bubbly. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting.

Photos: Martha's Vineyard

Took a trip for the first time to Martha's Vineyard this past weekend with the wife and are good friends H & C. What a great way to spend a beautiful Fall New England day! Here are some photos (thanks instagram) from our recent adventure: