Super Bowl XLI

Peyton Manning vs. Rex Grossman is "a skill match-up not unlike Doc Holliday vs. Barney Fife," says FOX Sports writer Randy Hill. I can roll with that.

The Bears' quarterback (Rex) has been remarkably unpredictable this season, showing up for either a zero or 100-plus QB rating--and nowhere in between. The Colts' quarterback (Peyton) has been an NFL star for years, a Marino-esque best who's never led his team to a Super Bowl victory--let alone appearance. It should be an interesting night in Miami.

I'll be rooting for Peyton, if for no other reason than his being a Tennessee man.

Bristol Mtn. - 28 Jan 07

Evan F. and I hit the slopes for the first time of the season on Sunday, as Upstate NY finally has conditions conducive to snow-making.

The temperature hovered around 20 deg. (F) and was generally comfortable with basic layering.

Evan convinced me to head to the board park for awhile, from which I have several aches and bruises to show for it. Don't sign me up for the X-Games just yet!

We did the Twilight Lift deal--$35--having arrived in South Bristol around 5pm and staying until the Comet Express stopped running at 10pm. Anyone up for this weekend?

LibraryThing

You may have noticed the list of books on the sidebar of my blog. The content is provided by LibraryThing.com, a personal cataloging system which allows one to keep track of books read as well as share feedback with other users. My entire library can be viewed here--it currently contains only the most recent books I've read.

Thanks to Java Joe Pimentel for the tip on the site.

Best Cookies Ever

I've grown up on the Nestlé Toll House chocolate chip cookie recipe and it's always the label of choice for my own cookie-baking. I recently stumbled upon the history of the Toll House recipe, which was created by mistake:

Back in 1930, Kenneth and Ruth Wakefield purchased a Cape Cod-style TOLL HOUSE located halfway between Boston and New Bedford, on the outskirts of Whitman, Massachusetts. Originally constructed in 1709, the house served as a haven for road-weary travelers. Here, passengers paid toll, changed horses and ate much-welcomed home-cooked meals. It was also here, over 200 years later, that the Wakefields decided to open a lodge, calling it the TOLL HOUSE Inn.

In keeping with the tradition of creating delicious homemade meals, Ruth baked for guests who stayed at the TOLL HOUSE Inn. As she improved upon traditional Colonial recipes, Ruth's incredible desserts began attracting people from all over New England.

One day, while preparing a batch of Butter Drop Do cookies, a favorite recipe dating back to Colonial days, Ruth cut a bar of our NESTLÉ Semi-Sweet Chocolate into tiny bits and added them to her dough, expecting them to melt.

continue reading History of NESTLÉ TOLL HOUSE...

Creative Zen Vision W

I gifted myself a Creative Zen Vision W for Christmas. Having fought off the urge to succumb to the iPod boom for oh-so-long, I finally found a portable media player that fit my needs for music, photos, and video. I chose the 60 GB model--plenty of storage space for my collection of .mp3 albums, select digital images, and a few dl'd (downloaded) ZENcasts.

I can easily play my .mp3's or audiobooks in my vehicle by simply plugging my Zen into an FM transmitter and tuning the radio to the designated frequency. The photo gallery capability is nice; I am now able to carry my favorite shots with me for display without having them take up valuable space on media cards. Also, there is a Compact Flash (CF) card reader built right into the slick device--allowing me to backup photos from my Canon Digital Rebel XT on the fly to free up cards for continued shooting.

Yes, the Zen Vision W is physically larger than all models of the Apple iPod; it compensates with capability and presentation. The 4.3" screen displays bright and clear video in a 16:9 aspect ratio and there is a handy A/V output port for displaying right onto your TV (a feature which I use a lot). There are a number of other functions that I haven't yet tapped in to, including: built-in FM radio receiver, voice recorder, and personal organizer which syncs with MS Outlook on your PC.

I have no complaints with the Creative Zen Vision W, and would absolutely recommend it as an iPod alternative.

Broken Bridges

So I finally watched Toby Keith's movie, entitled Broken Bridges. I've been wanting to see it--Toby the man is a big supporter of American troops and Toby the entertainer is simply incredible. Jessica and I saw him perform at Six Flags Darien Lake in Sept. 2004.

Toby the moviestar isn't exactly Johnny Depp, but it worked. Broken Bridges is a feel-good, down-home movie typical of country artists on the big screen, a la Dolly Parton. If you liked Sweet Home Alabama, you'd probably do alright in renting this one.

My Blog

Welcome to my new blog site. You are reading the very first post!

Ok--it's true. For an IT guy, I've been a little slow to jump on the blog (web + log) bandwagon. Two years ago, or 2 ya*, I built a site using WordPress. It never made it to print.

This time around, I opted to go with Google's Blogger service to create my online thoughtspace. Since the inception of the Internet giant's Gmail service, co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have had me hanging by the threads of their shirttails. It's difficult for the average techie to stay on top of all the innovative products rolling out of Mountain View, CA--and using Blogger as the backbone of my site is mainly a way for me to further explore Google technology. I will incorporate a few other bits of Google stuff into my blog as well. GoogleCalendar, for instance, is implemented in monthly agenda form on my blog's sidebar.

Check it out.

* per Hugh Mason, my high school Earth Science teacher (Earth is ~4.5 bya)