She is trouble. Haruhi is.
Yuki, on the other hand, changed the world because the world had broken her.
At 4:18 AM JST on December 18 it changed. A new world to fix this broke one.
The Disappearance. Then the reappearance. It is a fun world to return to.
It’s a classic story occurring at Christmas time. One to come back to every holiday season.
What to be thankful for in this chaotic year of 2025? Not much, but also very much.
Coke. Movie popcorn. Vegetables. Soup. Meat. Fish. Chicken. Rice. Tacos. Hot dogs. Baseball. Apple pie. Bread. Wine. Roses. It’s a Wonderful Life. Seven Samurai. The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. Donna Reed. George Bailey. Baltimore Orioles. Baltimore Ravens. Hiroshima Carp. You. Me. My family. Your family. Friends. Lovers. Democracy. Funds. Dollars. Nogizaka46. Mingo. Iroha. Matsuo-san. Ikuchan. Japan. The Philippines. Night. Day. Days off. Holidays. Vacations.
Happy Thanksgiving to you and to yours!
Good Fortune was a movie I watched a while back. It starred Keanu Reeves as fallen guardian angel. Not one that became evil, but one who’s lost his angelic powers. He was hilarious in that role.
The movie was written and directed by Aziz Ansari. It wasn’t as funny as the movie he had playing in his mind before he put pen to paper. Plus, it didn’t make any sense. It was about the gig economy and how terrible it is for everyone. It wanted to be this versions “It’s a Wonderful Life” but failed in every aspect.
I don’t know why I went to see it. Most likely because of Keanu. I miss that dude-bro version of Keanu so much that I guess I had to go to a movie that was getting bad reviews. I’m just including my own.
2 of 5 stars.
They are going to stop minting the US penny. Here’s some information before it goes away.
https://www.usmint.gov/learn/coins-and-medals/circulating-coins/penny
As I watched Tron: Ares, I felt that it was soulless. It was as cold as a computer. Yet, I liked it initially better than the previous release. Why’d I feel that way?
It had better action, a more moving story, and it made a bit of sense.
Then a month later, I don’t know why I even liked it. I found this post as a draft several weeks later. I have to post a review, this review just to keep the streak alive.
It wasn’t the best. I hope though they will try to connect it to the previous Tron, but I doubt it considering it lost money for the studio.
3 of 5 stars.
YOU! YOU ARE A WITCH!
So anyway. Happy Halloween!
Now the end of the year is here!
So I was making bean soups using my InstaPot the past few weekends, when I decided to make some chicken stock to use up the cilantro chicken dumplings in my freezer. I used store bought chicken stock for the bean soups but wanted to make it from scratch for this one. I wanted the unctuous, gelatinous feel of some well made stock instead of the thin broth of store bought. So I bought chicken wings and chicken feet planning to boil them to extract the gelatin.
I first roasted the wings in the oven for a deeper flavor. I roasted garlic with them. Then I put quick singed onion and ginger, the chicken feet, roasted wings, the garlic, and a lot of water into my InstaPot and let it slow cook for ten hours. When it was done, I strained the broth and stored in the fridge. I wanted to keep the meat from the chicken wings, but the chicken feet grossed me out, so I threw them away.
The stock was for the dumplings, but I ended up making a chicken rice soup. It was one of the best soups I ever made — the stock being a really important part. But here’s the rest that went in. Carrots, onions, and celery. Special wild rice perhaps a quarter cup. Some diced potatoes. I cooked up some chicken thighs. For more flavor I tried a different set of spices: sage, bay leaf, parsley. They were dried but imparted a much different flavor profile than I am used to. (I always did thyme and rosemary.)
As I said before, it was one of the best soups I’ve made. I think the stock was great. The choice of the wild rice was better, too. Perhaps I’ll make this once again.
Now about those chicken dumplings in the freezer. I saved some stock in the freezer with them.
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues
Spinal Tap II: The End Continues was completely unnecessary. From bringing the band back together to resurrecting Marty DiBergi, it wasn’t worth it. The problem? I did not find it funny at all. The original was a great comedy. This one was meh.
2 of 5 stars.
Overall it was fun and I was happy that Lindsay Lohan is making a comeback. I liked the fact that it was a double/triple/quadruple switch. I saw it too long ago to finish out this blog post with something positive. So I’ll just end it here.
3 of 5 stars.
