Hot Chocolate Redux

The Huffington Post reviewed NY Hot Chocolates. The only one of the list I've really tried and enjoyed was from La Maison du Chocolat. I'm a bit of a purist when it comes to hot chocolate. I don't like it spiced and I don't like it too thick or too creamy/milky. There is clearly a lot out there to choose from.

Feeling: tired

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Thanksgiving

I hope everyone in the US had a great holiday, and I want to thank everyone for reading this humble blog, especially those of you who have been faithful readers for many years. You make this worth doing.

Feeling: a tad annoyed I have to work tomorrow


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Nunu Hot Chocolate Review

I tried the little pack of Nunu Hot Chocolate I bought on Monday. The instructions said it could be made with milk or water, so I used both, same as I do with other hot chocolate mixes.

It had a nice, rich flavor, but it was bits of chocolate and they didn't melt smoothly, leaving bits in the hot chocolate, which if you like that sort of thing, is fine. I don't like texture in beverages. I don't drink orange juice with pulp, for instance. If you don't mind texture in your hot chocolate, or you're better at blending than I am, you'll probably enjoy this. The flavor is just right.

Feeling: lethargic

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Linkage

Helpful Figures is a satiric site that helps put facts into perspective.
And if you can knit socks, you might want to try this Tardis Pattern. They'd make great gifts for your Doctor Who fan friends. Both found on Neatorama.

Ads vs Reality: Food comparison photos. Found on J-Walk Blog.

Nunu Chocolates, made in Brooklyn, NY. I just got some of their hot chocolate to try. A friend told me their chocolate is yummy.

Another made in Brooklyn enterprise: Insiders1 makes fun, kitschy bags, wallets, and more.

Feeling: mellow



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Cyber Chocolate Nation

This is way cool: Sharenator's Web Empires visualizes a web location as if it were a country. (Link found on Paperback Writer.) Apparently, this ol' blog is a rather tiny realm in cyberspace. Here's how it stacks up...

The app is in beta, so they're soliciting feedback if you use it. My goal is now to make Cyber Chocolate more populated than Vatican City!

Feeling:



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Umm Ummm Good

Thompson Chocolate, used to make Adora Calcium Supplements, has a website for its chocolate. This is good stuff!

Got a lot of back scenes work done today. I can now see my desk again at work. Woohoo!

Feeling: busy


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Gimme Hot Chocolate

Too tired to come up with words, so just enjoy the photo.

Feeling: tired

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Still Here

Went back to work on Monday. Felt as if I hadn't been off for 2 weeks. Amazing how that is.

Went to the gym for the first time in ages. Only did a half hour on the treadmill. My legs/knees weren't happy. I have to build up my stamina again. And take off some weight.

Went to a wedding Saturday night and ate too much. We didn't get any food until after the service, which was 8 pm and then dinner wasn't served until 10 pm. By the time you see food, eating as much of it as you can is a priority, especially if it's good. This food was good.

Got my teeth cleaned. They almost sparkle now.

Thus concludes this update.

Feeling: okay

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Fifteen Films that Stuck with Me

Figured I needed a post here, so might as well do this.


I wasn't tagged and I'm not going to tag anyone. I did the 15 books, I believe, but I don't think I've done this, at least, not in recent memory. I could probably do this over and over and not name the same exact ones each time.


The rules, abbreviated: List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes.


1. 2001 (We were 4 families going together, then dinner at Mama Leone's after. Ah, the debates we had over its meaning. I read the book because of that film, then most of the rest of Clarke's books.)

2. The House on Haunted Hill (with Vincent Price). (I probably saw this on TV as part of the Million Dollar Movie that ran in the afternoons in the '60s. Scared the crap out of me.)

3. Hush, Hush, Sweet Charlotte (Saw it in the theater with friends when I was a kid. Also scared the crap out of me, mostly the opening sequence with a very young Bruce Dern!)

4. Psycho (Saw that when I was a kid, too. I'll never forget the moment when we got to see Mother's corpse! I could name a number of other Hitchcock movies, too.)

5. American Graffiti (Saw this for film class in college. First, and only, time I really analyzed a film. We had to choose from a list of features to write about. I chose casting and lighting.)

6. Star Wars (How could I not remember this?)

7. Raiders of the Lost Ark (When I went to the movies in the '60s, they were still showing serials. This brought them all back for me.)

8. The Producers (the original) (I can't remember when I wasn't a Mel Brooks fan.)

9. A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (I saw this on stage, too, but well after the original cast had left. This is probably my favorite Zero Mostel movie.)

10. A Night at the Opera (I could name any Marx Brothers movie. Duck Soup, especially for the mirror sequence, is a close second.)

11. Battle Beyond the Stars (So awful, it stuck in my memory for all time. I like to think of it as "Giant Fallopian Tubes in Space.")

12. Laura (I lost count years ago on how many times I've seen this brilliant Otto Preminger movie. Probably the most copied plot for a crime story ever.)

13. Serenity (The sequel to the much lamented Firefly series was much loved and appreciated.)

14. Superman (The first, with Christopher Reeve)

15. Batman Begins (The best reboot of a movie franchise I can think of, and one of the best adaptations of a comic book. Iron Man is another.)

Had a real spooky nightmare last night, one that held a bizarre fascination for me. I've had a couple of recurring library dreams over the years. I'm sure everyone has a work nightmare or two. In one, people not only were eating in the library -- a no-no -- but one person was getting served a catered meal! In the other, I can't get people to leave and they keep multiplying. Well, last night, I dreamed a new version of the second dream. I'd forgotten to lock the door when I left, so when I went back with the staff member I was with to check the door, we found it unlocked, the lights on, and dozens upon dozens of people inside and they would not leave. Chilling.

Feeling: tired


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Caprica

Sometimes, I don't know where to post things. Since this is about a TV show, a canceled TV show, I'll post it here.

This article on the death of Caprica, the prequel to Battlestar Galatica, is thoughtful, but some things said rub me wrong. This, for instance:

"In “Battlestar Galactica,” the lines were more clear-cut, and no matter what the humans did to the Cylons, they were human. They were automatically the good guys, at least initially. “Caprica” was simply too ambitious and too ambiguous."

Things are bad, indeed, when too ambitious and too ambiguous are deathly to TV shows. Characters were ambiguous on BG, too, especially Gaius. But that wasn't clear for the first couple of seasons. For a while, everything did look simple, unambiguous. Good vs. evil. Right vs. wrong. And yet, not everyone was as they first appeared. Caprica was just more upfront about that, more in your face with life's ambiguities.

And this:

"“Caprica” was no longer a show about the origins of the Cylons. It was a show about religious zealotry and how it turned scientific advancement into a tool for their terrorist activities and justification for their vision of utopia."

That was one of the things I loved most about the show. Sure I wanted to know the origins of the Cylons, but religion was a big part of Battlestar Galactica and to not have it be a big part of Caprica would have been disappointing for me. And this is an issue -- zealotry -- that resonates with me. It's something I want to write about in fiction. It matters to me.

Everything the article points out as hurting the show is what made it work for me. But as the viewership figures show, I was in a decided minority. It's a shame. I wanted to see how the Cylons came to be and what led to the human/Cylon war.

Damn, I'm gonna miss that show.

Feeling: sad

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Having it Both Ways

Well, we Gemini are twin souls, so to speak, so I guess this makes sense.

You Are Both an Introvert and an Extrovert

You are honest and comfortable in your own skin. You don't show off, but you never hide who you are either. You like to weigh all of your options before making a decision. You are apt to look for a compromise. You are responsible and determined to do the right thing. There is often a lot on your plate, but you handle it all well. You rely on yourself first and foremost. You know that you won't ever let yourself down.

The House Oracle

Work is Hard. Time for Blogthings!

Feeling: amused


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Late Night Comedy

You Are the Late Show with David Letterman

You are a bit sarcastic and cynical. It takes a lot to wow you. Your sense of humor is pretty dry. Sometimes people don't even realize that you're joking. You're the type of person that people are dying to impress. People often make a fool of themselves around you. Your standoffishness and aloof demeanor only makes you more appealing!

What Late Night Show Are You?

Blogthings: Take a Quiz. Annoy Your Friends.

Yup, that's about right. Dave's got it all. Great monologue, fun and wacky comedy bits, and a wide range of interview guests from laughs with the typical celebrity to serious discussions with political figures. Though I don't think I'm aloof. Like Dave, I can get silly, too. :)

Still, since he'll be on a half hour earlier, I plan to watch Conan O'Brien first. His show premieres on TBS tonight.

Feeling: calm


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Trimming the Blog Links and Adding Some Chocolate

In anticipation of Blogline's demise (extended from the 10/31 deadline), I've redone the blogroll here. I'd previously had trouble using Google Reader with the Blogger Blog Roll gadget, so I decided to manually enter the urls into the gadget, which gave me the opportunity to pick and choose and keep things neat here. I read many more blogs than are listed in the sidebar. I didn't include the book blogs (you can find those on Shelly's Book Shelf, which I'll also be cleaning up), for ex. I mostly wanted to include the blogs that are chocolate and/or food-related, or general in nature. So, I'm reading more blogs than appear in the sidebar.

Also, now that I'm reading feeds with Google Reader, I'm able to see the Blogger Blogs I Follow there, as well, and don't have to access them via the Blogger Dashboard. I'd been reading those on Bloglines, so I dropped the subs for them because I was getting the entries twice. So, some of you who I read who read Cyber Chocolate, you might notice you lost a reader. But you really didn't!

Have I confused anyone yet? ;)

I also unsubscribed from blogs not updated in the last year, and at least one with no updates since the spring. And I dropped another because I'm no longer interested in it. There are a few I'd like to include, but the bloggers haven't updated in months, so I'm still subscribed and will add them here if posts start appearing regularly again.

I did discover a few blogs had ceased to exist and I hadn't noticed! Oops.

I don't expect all this will appreciably decrease what I have to read, but it should make things a bit neater and my blog reading experience more efficient.

One interesting thing about this process is that I realized I've been reading some blogs since I discovered blogging, over 6 years ago! I'm happy they're still blogging (and some date back to our mutual AOL days!) and I'm happy I'm still blogging and reading blogs, too. Other favorite blogs are long gone, and I miss them, though a few of those bloggers became friends and we stay in touch on Facebook.

Finally, here's pics of Ethel's chocolate, as promised. The mug says Ethel M. The chocolate says Ethel's. Go figure.

Feeling: accomplished

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Oh Dorothy

You Are Dorothy

You are a little lost right now, but you are slowly finding your way home. You are a kind and loyal person. You are the truest friend anyone could ever have. You have an active imagination, and you are intrigued by far away places. You make friends easily. But at the end of the day, there is no place like home. You value your family and roots.

What Wizard of Oz Character Are You?

Blogthings: Waste Time at Work!

Kinda boring results, but then, it's not like there are all that many choices. ;)

Feeling: lethargic


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Cool Stuff

Dark Horse has Last Kiss Comics goodies: including mugs and sticky notes. I love Last Kiss and these goodies would make nice gifts. They should be hitting comic stores, soon, and I imagine you can buy them online if comic book shops aren't your thing or aren't in your neighborhood.

And hubby brought back dark chocolate from Ethel's and a wonderful, large mug for hot chocolate. Photos tomorrow.

I just noticed, before my internet froze and I had to shut and reload the browsers and lost the last paragraph I wrote on this post and which I'm now redoing, that the url for Ethel's is http://ethelschocolate.com which redirects to http://www.ethelm.com. I'm not sure what that means. My chocolate pieces definitely say Ethel's on the wrapper, not Ethel M. And interestingly, something I hadn't noticed before, they say they're put out by Mars.

Feeling: sleepy


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Disturbing News about Chocolate

This article in The Ethical Nag, from August, about child slavery and Ivory Coast grown cocoa beans gave me pause. I haven't heard of most of the organic brands listed which are deemed to be slavery-free, and I wish I could say I'll stop eating the brands that do get chocolate from Ivory Coast, but certain forms of chocolate are hard to give up. Still, this is worth reading and something that needs to be changed.

Feeling: sad

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