Tank one hundred and twelve

Total miles: 39455. Trip miles: 231.2. Gallons: 4.551. Price per gallon: $2.899.

Screen mileage: 49.9 mpg. Tank mileage: 50.8 mpg.

Long highway trips.

another top story (rated 5 stars)

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest

by Stieg Larsson

The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest is another excellent story from Stieg Larsson. His books are written with such clarity, suspense, and realism that I feel disoriented when finishing them. The world in his books seems more real than my own – and way more interesting!

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Tank one hundred and eleven

Total miles: 39223. Trip miles: 403.0. Gallons: 8.661. Price per gallon: $2.719.

Screen mileage: 52.7 mpg. Tank mileage: 46.5 mpg.

Long highway trips.

Tank one hundred and ten

Total miles: 38820. Trip miles: 220.9. Gallons: 4.381. Price per gallon: $2.699.

Screen mileage: 47.5 mpg. Tank mileage: 50.4 mpg.

Long highway trips.

blue hills

blue hills
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

I went for a nice little stroll at the Blue Hills Reservation today. With such good weather, it was kind of crowded, but enjoyable nonetheless.

I haven't been hiking in a while. Last time was almost a month ago, and I had some trouble with shoulder pain due to adhesive capsulitis. I didn't expect walking to affect my shoulder, but it certainly did.

Today it didn't bother me so much, thankfully.

A review of "Vegetarian Dal Makhani"

Vegetarian Dal Makhani

by French Meadow Bakery

You wouldn’t expect a really good Indian dinner to come from a company called French Meadow Bakery. I’ve eaten a lot of frozen dinners, and I was skeptical when I picked up their Vegetarian Dal Makhani. The picture on the front looks appetizing, but most frozen dinners look nothing like the image on the outside of the box.

I was pleasantly amazed. Not only does the food really slide out onto your plate looking picture perfect, it tastes absolutely perfect as well, as if it were prepared in a restaurant. The meal has 5 g of fiber, 8 g of protein, and only 340 mg of sodium, which is relatively low for a frozen dinner. And it tastes delicious! I will definitely try more French Meadow dinners.

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Tank one hundred and nine

Total miles: 38599. Trip miles: 377.7. Gallons: 6.916. Price per gallon: $2.639.

Screen mileage: 55.6 mpg. Tank mileage: 54.6 mpg.

Long highway trips.

health issue

I've been diagnosed with "frozen shoulder" aka adhesive capsulitis. Since it's so far off-topic for this blog, I decided to start a new blog describing my experiences. So, go there if you want to track what's happening in that part of my life.

I wish I could share some information about how to prevent the condition. However, it seems to be poorly understood, and I wonder if there is anything that can be done to prevent it. "Just don't fall" seems to be the best advice, although it's practically impossible to follow. Maybe I need to learn better falling techniques.

Tank one hundred and eight

Total miles: 38222. Trip miles: 196.4. Gallons: 4.15. Price per gallon: $2.659.

Screen mileage: 43.4 mpg. Tank mileage: 47.3 mpg.

Mostly shorter commutes. Weather is warming.

1D (rated 3 stars)

Avatar

by James Cameron

Avatar has three-dimensional effects, but the characters and plot are one-dimensional. If you saw the trailer, you’ve seen the movie. What a yawn.

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trail flooded

trail flooded
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

I went for a short hike at Blue Hills Reservation. It was a gray day, and sections of the trails are flooded. I only saw a few small patches of snow left.

Tank one hundred and seven

Total miles: 38025. Trip miles: 474.3. Gallons: 9.343. Price per gallon: $2.599.

Screen mileage: 51.3 mpg. Tank mileage: 50.8 mpg.

Mostly a couple of long drives at close to freezing temperatures.

Tank one hundred and six

Total miles: 37551. Trip miles: 408.5. Gallons: 8.975. Price per gallon: $2.599.

Screen mileage: 53.1 mpg. Tank mileage: 45.5 mpg.

A couple of long drives at freezing temperatures.

Tank one hundred and five

Total miles: 37142. Trip miles: 278.6. Gallons: 7.400. Price per gallon: $2.659.

Screen mileage: 40.3 mpg. Tank mileage: 37.6 mpg.

Short trips, cold days.

if god were a nutter... (rated 3 stars)

Legion

I wasn’t expecting much from Legion, I was just looking to escape for a couple of hours. But it didn’t really do the trick. The movie is a monster/action fantasy. The monsters weren’t scary or novel enough to do anything more than gross me out in a few cases (I admit that I though that “grandma” was kind of a funny twist, but I’m not avidly into horror movies so maybe that’s been done to death).

And the premise was pretty ridiculous. First, we’re told there’s a God, and He’s fed up with humanity so He’s decided to get rid of every last one of us. So what does He do? He sends out angels to slaughter us. Angels! And the “angels” are acting a heck of a lot like demons, possessing some people, and taking bite-sized chunks out of others. Come on, angels behaving en masse in this evil manner?? So all plausibility is gone at this point, because if this is the way “God” behaves, then how do you differentiate him from Satan? Who, by the way, never appears once.

On top of that, the archangel Michael has decided to rebel against “God”. His reasoning? Father doesn’t know best. “God” should be given what he “needs,” not what he “wants.”

So basically, this “God” is either a psychopathic nutter or a giant megalomaniacal baby. Either way, it’s totally unbelievable because it’s so far out of the bounds of any mainstream Christian theology. If you’re going to propose a crazy-ass demon god, you should get him from some theology where that’s more plausible (ancient Egypt? The Greeks? The Aztecs?).

The reason that I’m rating the movie as “OK” is that it was a reasonable distraction, and I kind of liked the small cast of characters, even though they weren’t very well fleshed out (as is typical with horror movies). I don’t feel like the movie was a waste of time, although I do wish I’d seen something else instead…. If you’re going to watch it, do see it in the theater; I think I would have been more disappointed seeing it on a TV screen.

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beautiful

beautiful
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

Did I mention the terrain in Val D'Isere is magnificent?

I have to figure out a way to take an entire winter to tour the towns in the French Alps and get a good sampling of all the skiing available. I'm pretty sure Val D'Isere is some of the best available (at least at my level), but I'd like to know what I'm missing, too.

polo

polo
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

In a weird coincidence, there were a few games of a winter polo match being played during our visit. It was fun, and we wound up standing around in the cold to watch for much longer than we thought we would.

petit dejeuner at chevallot

petit dejeuner at chevallot
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

In addition to the wonderful skiing in Val D'Isere, the town has a lot of old world charm.

For the best breakfast, you must go to Chevallot (the one on the main road). Their "petit" dejeuner is huge, and every bite is mouth-watering.

glorious

glorious
Originally uploaded by wereldmuis.

I took another ski vacation in Val D'Isere a few weeks ago (I've been there twice before, in 2007 and 2003). This has got to be some of the most glorious ski terrain in the world!

A review of "The Book of Eli [Blu-ray]"

The Book of Eli [Blu-ray]

by Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes

Denzel Washington plays a ninja-powered, Bible-toting wanderer in the post-apocalyptic movie, The Book of Eli.

I enjoyed it despite the religious overtones and the thin plot. The movie has a lot of weaknesses, including the fact that Washington should have been a lot scrawnier if he’d been eating cat for the last 30 years. Furthermore, the twist near the end was completely unbelievable. But I do enjoy dystopias, so I was tolerant. The casting was excellent, with Gary Oldman, Tom Waits, Mila Kunis (“Jackie” from That ‘70s Show), and Jennifer Beals.

I kept waiting for some revelation to get me all woo woo, but it never happened. Maybe this movie only really works if you’re religious. Still, it was worth seeing!

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