Gone is November, one project is good enough to debut

This year has simply flown by and I'm not quite sure where the time has gone. Maybe it's because I've been off doing all sorts of time-consuming projects (three of which I'm almost finished with, only 33 to go!). Or maybe the time has flown because I'm getting older.

This isn't going to be me lamenting over tedious parts of my life that I have no business sharing with anyone outside of a doctor's examination room (don't worry, folks, no erectile dysfunction here...) but I'm starting to feel old.

Oh sure, most of the world's population (okay, maybe it's more like 65%) is older than me but the whole age thing comes creeping up. It's getting harder to hide the fact that I eat like shit and drink like a horse like a horse who had just galloped through the entirety of the Mojave Desert. (Busted, I don't even drink that much). Weight has never been an issue for me but now I find myself standing in front of the mirror jiggling my slowly expanding gut. Hell, I just ate 3/4 lb. of smoked pork while I've been writing this so maybe I need to begin with portion control. I totally blew off my burgeoning jogging routine this year because we were busy most night pitching in watching our four young nephews a few nights each week while their mother worked nights and their dad worked 12-15 hour days. A few nights of that left me wanting to do nothing more than relax. Couple that with the sweltering summer we had here in Minnesota and outdoor time wasn't exactly in the cards -- especially for extraneous physical activity.

See, I have an excuse for everything.

Once August rolled around, we began working on some pretty exciting online ventures. Those have sucked up more time than I ever thought possible. I spent early weekend mornings and plenty of nights getting three of the intended four ventures off the ground and, in the process, taught myself the basics of Wordpress, some rudimentary PHP skills and learned still more about CSS. Yep, pretty nerdy stuff and those projects are nowhere near perfect yet but like plenty of things I do they are a work in progress.

I took some vacation time (four days to be exact) to catch up on household work. My yard was totally clean as the first snow fell back before Thanksgiving. I manufactured and installed some new exterior trim which was terribly deteriorated after only 40-some years and built my old lady a walk-in closet. Sure, it doesn't have a door installed yet or any texture on the drywall but that son of a bitch is built!

And because our plan for a new two stall garage is a distant dream, I sprung instead for a garage door opener on Black Friday and, pending a missing part thanks to the monkeys who can't package shit at Chamberlain's Chinese manufacturing headquarters, I am stuck with an inoperable garage door opener for the time being. (See, that one is actually out of my control)

All told, the past few month's work is all leading up to a plan to supplement our income. It's all part of that American spirit. Entrepreneurship at its finest. We both rather enjoy what we do and are, for the most part, happy with our lot in life but we also want to restore our grand old home to its former glory and give it some much-needed curb appeal which all begins with a facelift to the old three-season porch spanning its width. It's the biggest project (even compared to the bathroom we gutted and rebuilt) we plan on tackling and it requires a lot of things to fall into place. But with some luck and a lot of extra effort it's going to happen. So help us to make it happen.

So spread the word about Minnesota Recipes. In short, it's an always growing collection of, for lack of a better word, heirloom recipes. They've been dug out of dusty drawers, book cases and out of print and decades old homemakers and church cookbooks. We've been busy typing recipes from old recipe cards tagged with the names of people I faintly recall from my years growing up on the family farm. We've also been busy trying some of these crazy sounding recipes for the sole purpose of photographing them and giving them our own stamp of approval in the process. It's all a lofty order when both are saddled with full-time day jobs and a now three year-old who is as loud and curious as she is cute.

Sure, Minnesota Recipes is far from perfect but I've learned a ton along the way. I learned the quirks of certain Wordpress plugins. I learned that SEO is a real bitch to crack sometimes. I learned that it's easy as hell to get frustrated when the results of your hard work are slow to turn in to something more substantial. Beware that when you visit Minnesota Recipes that I am scraping up bits of time here and there to fill out the missing bits of information. Descriptions of many of the recipes are missing when viewed in search engines due to my learning on the fly. Photos are slow to come because there's only so much food a family of three can afford to cook and eat.

All told, though, I'm becoming happier with the fruits of my labor. This is my first full Wordpress website. Creating it, though, has secured a future for myself at my job because I have that skillset ready to use at a moment's notice.

Hey, if anyone reading this knows more about CSS than I do, maybe you can lend a hand as you'll probably  notice a couple elements still somewhat out of place on the main page of Minnesota Recipes. Feel free to drop me a line, I would greatly appreciate a few minutes of your amazing skills!

Thanks, though, for following my projects and to a certain extent my life. Hopefully Minnesota Recipes grows as quickly as MinnPics did -- or even faster! And don't think for a moment that I'll forget about MinnPics. That website is my little baby. I love photography and I love seeing and sharing what other photographers across Minnesota are up to. Curating MinnPics has taught me more than I could ever dream of and has spurred both me and my wife to become better photographers and find the hidden photographic gems in our own little corner of Minnesota.

CBS Fall 2011 new series previews

2 Broke Girls

Starring Kat Denning, a fish out of water story where the perpetually broke Denning ends up taking in the newly broke former socialite and hilarity (hopefully) ensues.

Person of Interest

A gritty, sci-fi-ish crime drama starring Jim Caveziel (Jesus) and Michael Emerson (Lost's Ben Linus) where the team of Reese and Finch team up to prevent crimes. This is, by far, the most solid-looking show of the fall season.

Unforgettable

A woman with total recall, working as a cop, wants to forget elements of her life and uses her gift to solve crimes in the NYC burough of Queens.

A Gifted Man

A successful doctor reunites with is wife who he finds out is actually dead -- yep, he can communicate with her spirit, tying the two together and having him tie up the loose ends in her life.

How to Be a Gentleman

A manners columnist is reunited with an old friend who is his polar opposite. Cheap buddy comedy humor ensues. Stars Matthew Dillon. Call this one done within one season.

CBS releases fall 2011 schedule

Outside of a rather small number of new series, the biggest news regarding the CBS fall schedule is an actual origina, scripted series running new episodes on a SATURDAY night. With the constantly shifting Rules of Engagement rarely landing in the same spot twice, this time around it makes its way to a 7 PM C/T spot on Saturday. While I don't see it being permanent -- likely a placeholder in case one of its two new sitcoms (2 Broke Chicks and How to be a Gentleman) horribly tanks but it does seem that CBS is extremely confident about the strength of its fall line-up and with a mere 90 minutes of primetime slotted for repeats, CBS may be making a push to again program the remainder of Saturday night with original, scripted programs.

Here's the schedule:
MONDAY
8:00-8:30 PM HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER
8:30-9:00 PM 2 BROKE GIRLS (New)
9:00-9:30 PM TWO AND A HALF MEN
9:30-10:00 PM MIKE & MOLLY
10:00-11:00 PM HAWAII FIVE-0
TUESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM NCIS
9:00-10:00 PM NCIS: LOS ANGELES
10:00-11:00 PM UNFORGETTABLE (New)
WEDNESDAY
8:00-9:00 PM SURVIVOR: SOUTH PACIFIC
9:00-10:00 PM CRIMINAL MINDS
10:00-11:00 PM CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION (New Time)
THURSDAY
8:00-8:30 PM THE BIG BANG THEORY
8:30-9:00 PM HOW TO BE A GENTLEMAN (New)
9:00-10:00 PM PERSON OF INTEREST (New)
10:00-11:00 PM THE MENTALIST
FRIDAY
8:00-9:00 PM A GIFTED MAN (New)
9:00-10:00 PM CSI: NY
10:00-11:00 PM BLUE BLOODS
SATURDAY
8:00-8:30 PM RULES OF ENGAGEMENT (New Time)
8:30-9:00 PM COMEDYTIME SATURDAY
9:00-10:00 PM CRIMETIME SATURDAY
10:00-11:00 PM 48 HOURS MYSTERY
SUNDAY
7:00-8:00 PM 60 MINUTES
8:00-9:00 PM THE AMAZING RACE
9:00-10:00 PM THE GOOD WIFE (New Time)
10:00-11:00 PM CSI: MIAMI

The Good Wife seems very much out of place in its new 9 PM E/T Sunday home against what I see as a fading but still strong enough Desperate Housewives on ABC but it's really the only questionable move I see with the CBS fall 2011 schedule.

ABC fall 2011 new series previews

Apartment 23



Charlie's Angels



Good Christian Belles



Last Man Standing



Man Up!



Missing



Once Upon a Time



Pan Am



Revenge



The River



Scandal



Suburgatory



Work It



All told it looks like I have a lot of TV series to watch and pass judgment on this fall and again in January when the mid-season shows roll out. Outside of Good Christian Belles and Charlie's Angels, I'll actually give each series one episode to suck me in.

My best guess is that Once Upon a Time will be the first ABC series of the fall season to fall prey to cancellation.

ABC's 2011 fall schedule

MONDAY
8:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars”
10:00 p.m. “Castle”
TUESDAY
8:00 p.m. “Last Man Standing”
8:30 p.m. “Man Up”
9:00 p.m. “Dancing with the Stars the Results Show”
10:00 p.m. “Body of Proof”
WEDNESDAY
8:00 p.m. “The Middle”
8:30 p.m. “Suburgatory”
9:00 p.m. “Modern Family”
9:30 p.m. “Happy Endings”
10:00 p.m. “Revenge”
THURSDAY
8:00 p.m. “Charlie’s Angels”
9:00 p.m. “Grey’s Anatomy”
10:00 p.m. “Private Practice”
FRIDAY
8:00 p.m. “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition”
9:00 p.m. “Shark Tank”
10:00 p.m. “20/20”
SATURDAY
8:00 p.m. “Saturday Night College Football”
SUNDAY
7:00 p.m. “America’s Funniest Home Videos”
8:00 p.m. “Once Upon a Time”
9:00 p.m. “Desperate Housewives”
10:00 p.m. “Pan Am”

Again, a somewhat bland fall schedule from ABC. I can see the reboot of Charlie's Angels falling apart quickly and being the first casualty on ABC's schedule. I'm surprised that there wasn't some sort of attempt to actually program Friday night with some cheaper comedies. Despite what the suits think, some people -- especially those with families -- are actually home on Friday evenings.

I'll have previews/trailers of the new series later.

FOX new fall series

Overall, FOX has a fairly strong line-up and a couple of shows I'm actually looking forward to watching. Terra Nova looks extremely compelling but is also very high concept and heavily serialized meaning miss an episode and you're totally lost and the high concept part of it makes me think that much of the concept of the series will go over people's heads. However, I do feel like it has the possibility of gaining an extremely loyal fan base if FOX allows Terra Nova to run interrupted for 13 consecutive weeks.

New Girl, starring Zooey Deschanel, looks like it could be a movie based on the production values and that, along with Deschanel starring in it, is what has me wanting to see this series play out. It seems like a fish out of water comedy with a heart of gold -- both sides, Deschanel's character Jess and her new three male roommates -- bettering each other in different ways and being there to pick each other up. I pray that it doesn't go to the extreme sappy side of things but I don't think it would work if it were full of cheap, easy prat falls.

The video previews are below.

Terra Nova

Mondays 7 PM C/T

New Girl

Tuesdays 8 PM C/T

I Hate my Teenage Daughter

Wednesdays 8:30 PM C/T

Allen Gregory

Sundays 7:30 PM C/T

New NBC series previews

As a follow-up to yesterday's commentary on NBC's fall 2011 schedule, below are the official trailers from each new series debuting beginning in September.

I have to admit that Grimm looks compelling and given its Friday night time slot, it won't have to be a blockbuster to stick around for at least a year.

The Playboy Club

Mondays at 9 PM C/T

Up All Night


Starring Will Arnett & Christina Applegate
Wednesdays 7 PM C/T

Free Agents

Wednesdays 7:30 PM C/T

Whitney

Thursdays 8:30 PM C/T

Grimm

Fridays 8 PM C/T

NBC's Fall Schedule: fairly awful

Well before today's official announcement of their fall 2011 primetime schedule, NBC's schedule leaked and was published on a number of websites late last night and appears below. There was plenty of insider chatter late last week about the titles, details and overall large amount of series which the 4th place network was officially picking up for the 2011-2012 season but it appears that the network in need of the most help and the most daring scheduling has played it extremely safe for the fall.

MONDAY
8-10 p.m. – The Sing-Off
10-11 p.m. – THE PLAYBOY CLUB
TUESDAY
8-10 p.m. – The Biggest Loser
10-11 p.m. – Parenthood
WEDNESDAY
8-8:30 p.m. – UP ALL NIGHT
8:30-9 p.m. – FREE AGENTS
9-10 p.m. -- Harry’s Law
10-11 p.m. -- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
THURSDAY
8-8:30 p.m. – Community
8:30-9 p.m. -- Parks and Recreation
9-9:30 p.m. – The Office
9:30-10 p.m. – WHITNEY
10-11 p.m. – PRIME SUSPECT
FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. – Chuck
9-10 p.m. – GRIMM
10-11 p.m. – Dateline NBC
(new series in ALL CAPS)

With NBC opting to sign a whopping six new comedy series, placing only half of them on the fall schedule says that they are either serious about having more first-time content (no repeats) airing or that the other three series are straight-up awful. Two of the remaining three sitcoms, Bent and BFFs are reportedly only signed for six episodes each but before you pass judgment on that fact, The Office began with a mere six episode run and that seems to have turned out quite well. No real details have been released regarding Are You There Vodka? It's Me Chelsea which is based on one of comedian Chelsea Handler's books.

On the drama side, opting again for six new hours, only three of the six have made their way on to the fall schedule. The missing dramas are Smash, The Firm and Awake.

Bigger news, at least to me, is the fact that NBC is kicking off their week with two nights of back-to-back two-hour reality blocks.The Sing Off, which seems cheap to me, is supposed to build a young-skewing base for their current hit The Voice which returns for a second season in January 2012 but I have to wonder if people will really sit through upwards of three months of a cheap singing show with no real payoff or if NBC truly doesn't give a shit about Monday's ratings and is more than happy to win a few advertiser dollars and call it a day. Let's face it, ABC's Dancing With the Stars will crush the cheap Sing Off and won't do much to build toward the second season of The Voice.

By not realizing, too, that people are getting sick of fatties losing weight on The Biggest Loser and saying that Wednesday evening was the only place to launch a second evening of comedies, they are effectively dooming their entire Wednesday lineup and while ABC's first hour of their Wednesday comedy block isn't huge, it is stable and watchable. People give new shows only one shot and unless the new NBC comedies have people pissing their pants from laughter, they are toast.

My best guess is that by mid-October there will be more than a couple shows pulled from NBC's fall schedule and they'll be scrambling to fill those holes -- something you'd never see CBS do. This is why NBC is in 4th place and will continue to remain there for the forseeable future.

2011 predictions

Every year it seems like the unexpected happens -- it's what keeps us on our toes. And with our nation fucking obsessed with the happenings of celebrities, let's think about what will happen with the douchebags we obsess over along with a few non-celebrity predictions.

Celebrity deaths:
I can see Dick Clark kicking the bucket. Hearing audio of his appearance on Dick Clark's New Year's Rocking Eve with Ryan Seacrest (get a longer title, please) was just sad. After suffering a stroke a few years ago, I think that his time to leave this world has come and 2011 will be when that happens.

Someone, too, from the cast of MTV's Jersey Shore will also kick the bucket. Snooki would be too obvious of a choice and not being familiar (thankfully) with the show I'm leaving this one open but one of those spray-tanned guidos will end up not being around in 2012.

Celebrity scandals:
Something big will happen with Miley Cyrus. A Miley Cyrus sex tape. Miley Cyrus filmed snorting cocaine. Miley Cyrus killing a panda in a drunken rage... Whatever the case, Miley's going to have a big year now that she's 18 and doing more stupid shit than I did when I was 21.

Celebrity divorce:
The most obvious candidate is the divorce of Katy Perry and Russell Brand. Russell Brand is as phony as they come. He's grating, annoying and the most likely candidate I can think of to cheat on his new wife. It's logical being that they both travel for music and movies respectively and he has a history of substance abuse which can lead to some pretty spectacularly poor decisions. Mark my words: Russel Brand and Katy Perry call their marriage quits in 2011.

Music:
Justin Bieber will be revealed as being 14 years old. Who does he think he's fooling? No 16 year old, regardless of his nationality (Canadian) looks that young.

In other music prognostications, Lil' Wayne will return to jail. It will probably be for a number of things including drunk driving, weapons possession, drug possession and having too damn many tattoos. Ke$ha (or Kesha if you're nasty) will finally have a sex tape leak. Two surprises will stem from this: the first being that she looks like shit without a ton of make-up and the second is that she has a third nipple.

Sports:
If the 2011 NFL season is actually played (there is that potential lockout looming) the Minnesota Vikings -- playing at a hastily revamped TCF Bank Stadium -- will finish with a record of 3-13. It won't matter because the taxpayers of Minnesota will be bamboozled into funding a new stadium and the season will be written off as a rebuilding year.

Politics:
Sarah Palin will officially announce her intention to run for president in 2012. This will also mark the official debut of the Tea Party as their own political party. The scary thing is that she will take herself seriously. Even scarier is that she'll land a larger share of the votes in 2012 than the Republican candidate -- Jeb Bush.

Reverb10 - Try

December 18 – Try. What do you want to try next year? Is there something you wanted to try in 2010? What happened when you did / didn’t go for it? (Author: Kaileen Elise)

In short I want to try harder. I've never been accused of not giving it my all but I know that have more to give. I have more potential than I currently use. Whether that means that others around me are total slouches or they just don't have the same work ethic as I do doesn't really matter and I have no need or desire to call out anyone's work but I do know that I can do better.

My main goal is to try my hand at being a better photographer. In a year where it seemed that my employer did everything in their power to discourage me from working hard to obtain captivating and artistic photos and opt for the lowest common denominator by both using lower quality photos and using crowdsourcing via amateur sources (resulting in those lower quality photos) for nothing more than a photo credit I succumbed to the lack of encouragement and it showed. I probably captured less than 15,000 images this year and their quality was nothing to write home about for the most part.

But I can do better and I know I have the power to motivate myself and I can make 2011 the best year yet for my photography. While I have no illusions of being a top notch photographer or even obtaining name recognition I know I can be better and try harder. What do you plan on trying in 2011?