EricNentrup.com

Take a look over there to the right. I’ve set up a “notify list” so you don’t have to randomly check in at my site for updates. It takes a couple of steps, including an email confirmation, but do it once and you’ll never miss another post such as those where I complete exploit garlic as an ingredient. You really can’t risk that, now can you?

U2’s new album, “How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb” will be released soon, and thanx to a friend with “connections,” I’ve managed to get a copy and it is quite pleasing. Not sure YET if I dig it like I dig the 2000 “All That You Can’t Leave Behind.” Which is just a phenomenal comprehensive collection of cuts.

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So far, I’m very intrigued with “Yahweh,” the final track on the album. I want to listen to it a few more times, but it’s just so refreshing to have songs about GOD in pop culture without it being from a “crossover” artist.

Other than that, I love how hard U2 works to make it look effortless. Sure there’s plenty of “studio magic” going on to produce the tracks, but they can sound so full with such simple layers of instruments and vocals. I think I’m also digging their sparse use of electronica to support traditional instruments.

My take overall is that it’s a very CLEAN album. Just pure and crisp, with a lot of presence. Not a lot of hiding behind effects or slick production.

Ultimately, I’m just happy to have ONE MORE “post Zooropa” album. I’m sure there’s a lot that’s about timing–with me, with the world, and with the band and where they’re at. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time for anything produced between Achtung and ATYCLB.

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They were guests on SNL tonight and rocked the house. You get the feeling that Bono loves to play SNL more than anything. Especially his antics with playing to the camera. It got me vibed to see the show next year. I’m looking forward to it.

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Train derailment spills 20,000 gallons of beer

By popular request (Jason), here is my recipe for White Chili. I made it LAST week, and at an ill-fated moment, closed the program I was writing in accidentally, and it didn’t have a “don’t you want to save the current document” fail-safe. Shucks. So I cussed the app and went to bed.

First of all, I don’t have this “White Food Fetish.” It’s a pure coincidence and the MOST basic variation on a theme towards 2 of my popular scoops. What follows is the recipe for:
Eric’s White Chilli!

Ingredients:
olive oil
1/2 stick butter
1 large onion (white or yellow, DICED)
1 entire bulb of garlic (peeled and smashed)
2 16 oz. cans of chicken broth
1 lb. dry navy beans
1 lb. dry great northern beans
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 16 oz. can of evaporated milk (or nearly 32 oz. regular milk, your choice)
1 lb. shredded monterey jack cheese
1/2 lb. shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 C. chopped cilantro
1 T. oregano
2 T. crushed red pepper flakes
1 T. paprika
1 T. black pepper
2 T. lime juice
salt to taste

Accompaniment:
sour cream or ranch dressing
chopped cilantro, parsley, green onions, jalapeño slices
warm tortilla strips
full-blown quesadillas

Okay…this is not only a set of “assembly instructions” but plenty of chop-chop efficiency tips around the kitchen. Tip one: Throw all the above junk on the counter and get ready to fly. But first, let’s talk beans…If you don’t have time to soak or cook DRY beans, replace with DOUBLE the amount of canned beans.

Don’t know about you, but my chicky breasts are always frozen solid. Well, for this dish, toss ‘em in the Nuke and crank it up to 4-6 minutes…the goal is to go from frozen to mostly cooked whilst thou assemblest the other blessed ingredients.

Grab the biggest dutch oven, soup kettle, or cauldron you can find in your kitchen. Cover the bottom with olive oil, drop in the butter, and turn up the heat to med/hi and start to soften your onions and garlic. Deglaze the pot with the chicken broth. Then add the beans and blend the mixture well.

By this time, hopefully, the chicken breasts are cooked through enough for you to be able to easily to dice or shred the chicken. Also, dump the rendered liquid from your microwave dish into the pot. After dicing the chicken, add to mix. Bring the soup to a simmer.

Now, add the evaporated milk, the cheeses, and the rest of the herbs, spices, and lime juice. Taste and adjust with salt, more milk, broth, or water to your taste.

Serve with the garnishes above nice and hot and get ready for seconds!

I just saw on the CBS Morning Show, Actor/Filmmaker Chazz Palminteri talking about his latest project, a film called “Noel.”

It’s being released via FlexPlay.com, a new service that makes DISPOSABLE DVD rentals mailed to your door. Crazy. They actually begin to disintegrate in 48 hours. I love it. Now I can QUIT HATING AOL for their ridiculous amount of waste with their CD’s and transfer that angst to FlexPlay. Not really. I don’t get that bent out of shape about it. I just think it’s a strange business model NOW when we could POSSIBLY be near a “Video On Demand” breakthrough via ONE of several technologies.

Anyhow, this qualifies for the “RANT” category, as I just don’t understand the notion to INTENTIONALLY create disposable stuff at a time when we are ALSO lobbying to recycle whatever we can. To their credit, they ARE recyclable, but at least in my tiny burgh, we’re still a ways off from the MASSES recycling most of their refuse.

Being the torn soul I am, I’ll likely try it. Or watch–I’ll make a short film and seek distribution with them. I’ll get over it. And if I DO get one of their discs, it’s going in the recycle bin.

Oh the days we’re livin’ in.

So I saw the Trailer for Episode III, Revenge of the Sith. The first half is footage culled from the previous FIVE films, and the second half of the trailer delivers the tease of new footage from the May 2005 release.

I have to say I like what I see. From what I’ve read online, folks are pretty much losing faith in George to deliver the goods. And I side with them on issue of writing and directing (what else is there?!?!?!). Well, the mogul-like stature of such Lucas offspring as Lucas Arts, Lucasfilm, Skywalker Sound, and the biggest–Industrial Light & Magic, have paved the way for these films, as I’ll discuss below, and more so, occupied George’s creative side in a significant amount compared to his writing and directing. I wonder why he didn’t just STAY competitive with his colleagues (Spielberg, Scorcese, Coppola) instead of becoming a service provider to THEIR films.

I’ll take a moment to confess that NOT having cable, I missed the Comedy Central airing of “The Clone Wars” cartoon. But thanks to peer-to-peer networks and the client software available (unnamed here to not indict the innocent), I was able to snag a good many of the episodes and run them out of my PowerBook to my TV and Stereo, enjoying them just as I would’ve on TV. Sans the commercials.

Confession over.

This recent article on Box Office Mojo shows the disdain that true blue fans have for the versions of the film found in last month’s DVD box set of Ep’s 4,5, & 6. The author makes a good note that such fans are nearing fascism with demanding that Lucas REVERT to the ORIGINAL THEATRICAL versions of the film for DVD release. I give George a bit more grace than that.

It’s so funny. I can remember growing up, the occasional Entertainment Tonight story, or something similar, where George would pop back up in the headlines. Maybe for Indy Jones Chronicles or something. And they’d ask when they could expect MORE Star Wars movies. And George would always answer to the effect that he was waiting for technology to catch up with his ideas. And kudos to George for putting his money where his mouth was and building the de facto visual fx company two which all other VFX houses bow their greenscreens in unison curtsy. But I think that when that occured back in the late nineties as he “polished” the workflow for Ep. 1’s production, the technology arrived to find his ideas a dry pile of dust, instead of the more vibrant prequels we all would’ve savored had he just made the damn series in sequence. It’s pretty obvious to most that Ep’s 1 & II have eye candy filling chasms where story belonged.

The outrage of fans underscored in Holleran’s article reminds me of several recent and relevant encounters I have had with others (primarily from older generations) where I see a HUGE chasm between value of intelllectual property (a fairly new term) and the object or container of that property. Stay tuned for that delicious essay.

Nonetheless, my heartrate quickened when I saw the teaser trailer. We ALL want to see the transformation of Darth Vader. We all deserve another wookie moment, and there is no such thing as too many lightsaber fights, at least in my book. So, more power to George as he presses on towards next May’s release.

By the way…the title of this entry. It’s the TRUE dividing factor between men and women. I have YET to meet a fella who wouldn’t give his right android hand for an actual working lightsaber. Next time you’re with a few, just ask. In the meanwhile check out these fine replicas at a web retailer near you.

Fire up that inkjet, I promise this recipe will please. You’ll see some of my shortcuts which make this meal a bit more convenient, but still provide a strong base for an impressive pie.

Ingredients(dough):
Double Batch of Pizza Dough (I use a simple bread machine recipe with the following mods.)
Add-ins:
1 T. Garlic Powder
1 T. Oregano

If you don’t have or wish to use a breadh machine, just follow the recipe anyhow and beat the heck out of the dough ball, before letting it rise, covered, in a warm spot…perhaps on top of the stove as you preheat your oven. By the way, Preheat your oven to 500F.

Toppings:
2 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
1/2 C. Freshly Chopped Parsley
1/2 C. Freshly Chopped Green Onions
1 Bulb of Garlic, Smashed and Peeled
1 Jar of Store-bought Alfredo Sauce
8 Oz. “Italian Blend” Shredded Cheese
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

Before your bread machine finishes, toss the frozen chicken into the microwave and zap it up for a good long while. Don’t be afraid to cook the chicken. You’re going to toss it in a saute pan later, so might as well save some time by MOSTLY cooking your chicken in the microwave. But ultimately, your preference.

When your dough has finished rising, turn it out onto a floured counter or board and flatten by hand. Depending on how resistant the dough is, I may continue to flatten by hand or turn to the rolling pin. Wipe some olive oil on your favorite pizza pan, and dust with cornmeal for that “restaurant feel.” Not essential, but a nice touch. Brush the top of your dough with a light coating of olive oil. Set aside.

Dice your chicken, and discard any tendon or gristly bits. Check for doneness. Saute the garlic, onions, and parsley in some olive oil. Once the garlic cloves start to brown, toss in the chicken. Time it by “feel.” if the chicken was thoroughly cooked in the Nuke, then you are essentially just adding a bit of browning to it. You might also want to toss the chicken broth that cooked out in the microwave in your saute pan. Salt and pepper to taste. Once it all is tossed well, set aside.

Drizzle, then spread the alfredo sauce across your crust. Spread the chicken mixture evenly across the crust and top with cheese. I prefer another drizzle of olive oil on top of it all.

Bake this bad boy until the cheese begins to brown and the crust is good and finished!

Enjoy with some crushed red pepper and a beverage of your choice!

Okay…

So, I’ve read through some of my posts from awhile back and compared with them now, they were a whole lot more interesting. I apologize for that. This post will conclude the recent trend of geeky-ness.

I’m writing this post on MarsEdit, which is made by Ranchero Software and one of MANY cool tools for Mac Users (check ‘em out Chris, Rob, Johnny, Mel, etc.). So…In summary, I’ve reserved ericnentrup.com, downloaded and installed WordPress on my HOSTING service at CrashProne.com, and am locally writing my blogs on my PowerBook using Ranchero’s MarsEdit as my “blogprocessor” if you will. I guess I’m telling you this so that you mac user’s out there will follow suit, and geek out with me!

Alright. I’m about to go hang a new door in the kitchen (leading to the garage). Did you know that in Indiana, to be incompliance with state code, you MUST use an exterior door? Well, that’s what the guy at Menard’s said. Nonetheless, I’ve gotta go do that. It’s funny how home improvement tasks have ONE CORE task and then a trickle down effect throughout the house. So…”trickle down task” for the day, secure the home from criminals and the elements with a sturdy, yet economical steel door. Check.

Taking my site to the next level is something I can waste all sorts of time on. And I’m not just talking about the header graphic or whatnot. But I’m surprised to move into this community of coders and tweakers who go to the utmost lengths to add certain features to their sites.

That’s my “semi-intellectual” way of saying I’ve got a LOT to learn.
PHP, MySQL management, let alone just learning HTML.

Anyhow…My immediate goals are for locking up a workflow with plenty of options for posting and editing. Last night, I was writing a post with a recipe for my White Chili and lost it when I inadvertently hit command-Q while trying to close a finished browser window. Of course it wasn’t saved, and since I was at the WordPress admin window, I never got a prompt to save before quitting. That sucked and I don’t want to do that again.

So I’m looking at how to use MacJournal to post, and at the moment, I’m writing this from my “post by email” option. I’ll figure this out in the days ahead. I feel like I need to get this down and out of my peripheral so I can actually WRITE. Sounds like an excuse, huh?