serene's posterous

The Dead Sea Cipher

Sea

Picked up this book by Elizabeth Peters from a pile of honorbacks at the library.  I thought it was fitting to read it soon after our vacation to Jordan.  For a book written in the 1970s, it didn't feel too dated.  But I guess the plot was somewhat subpar compared to those in some of her better Amelia Peabody or Vicky Bliss novels.  The historical stuff was an interesting read though.

December 2011 Movies

Super 8 : 4/5

Good movie.  Monster movies are best when you don't really know how the monster looks.

Kung-Fu Panda 2 : 4/5

Hilarious.

Friends with Benefits :3.5/5

A pretty good rom-com.  Nothing surprising happens, but I liked the characters and the supporting cast is good.

Drive Angry : 2.5/5

Nicolas Cage's movies have been terrible lately.  This one is quite violent.  And doesn't reach the point where it is so bad it is good.

Hugo : 4.5/5

Watched in 3D, which was very well done.  Loved the movie.

Midnight in Paris : 4/5

Watched this on the first leg of our flight to Jordan (coincidentally, we were transiting in Paris).  This is an airy movie, but I really enjoyed its mood.  Would watch again on a bigger screen.

Hangover Part II : 2/5

Sort of watched this on the flight too.  Didn't like the first movie, unsure why I bothered to watch the second.

The Windup Girl

Windup

Apparently the in-thing in science fiction now is to imagine what the future would be like if "something" happens.  Paolo Bacigalupi created a fascinating world in The Windup Girl, which he had apparently explored in his previous published short stories.  What if there are no more fossil fuels, food is scarce and calories are now the currency of the world? Expectedly, life is grim and violent.  Definitely, it was an intriguing novel, and I am compelled to search out his other short stories and novels. 

Blackout and All Clear

Blackout and All Clear by Connie Willis should be read together as a single book, because there's no real ending to Blackout and All Clear just picks up from where Blackout ends.

I am predisposed to like the books because I enjoy reading historical fiction - and the World War II period during the Blitz is fascinating.  But these are science fiction novels about time travelling historians from 2060.  Have these time travelers affected the space-time continuum and changed the course of the war?  Admittedly the time travelling stuff and some of the contrivances are a bit dodgy but I think Willis managed to evoke the historical period very well.  Blackout also suffers from the problem of too many characters so it was somewhat difficult to keep everyone straight initially.

The Seldom Seen Kid and Build a Rocket Boys!

Bought these two albums by Elbow on impulse at the HMV in Heathrow before boarding our flight.  Our flight was an hour late, so I had plenty of time to wander around.  On hindsight, I probably should have checked out the Harrods store to see if there were any edibles that I could spend my remaining pounds on (the exchange rate was horrid so we felt it was better to spend the pounds on stuff we wanted).

I was pleasantly surprised by how good both albums were.  I enjoyed the older Seldom Seen Kid better because I thought the songs were a little catchier.  But Build a Rocket Boys! also has a bunch of good tracks.  From Seldom Seen Kid: One Day Like This, Grounds for Divorce.  From Build a Rocket Boys!: Lippy Kids.  I had gone ahead and bought the back catalog, but haven't had a chance to really listen to the albums (and form an opinion) yet.

November 2011 movies

Captain America : 3.5/5

Of the recent pre-Avengers movies, this was probably the most enjoyable.

Cars 2 : 3/5 

I wouldn't say this was as bad as the critics made it up to be, but it was definitely not one of Pixar's better efforts. Mater was extremely irritating.  The visuals as expected from Pixar were excellent. 

October 2011 Movies

Carlos : 3/5

We watched the 2h 45min, which was unsurprisingly disjointed given that it was cut down from a 6h (?) miniseries.  It was an interesting movie "based on a true story" of Carlos the Jackal, but I have got to say all those 80s music was quite incongruous.

Fast Five : 2.5/5

Brainless entertainment.  It wasn't as bad I thought it would be.  Fast cars.  Vin Diesel and The Rock fight.  Lots of ridiculous car chases and fight scenes.

Horrible Bosses : 2.5/5

I found it kinda stupid, but Eu-Jin enjoyed it more than I did.

Crazy, Stupid, Love : 3.5/5

I liked it.  For an ensemble romantic comedy, it was actually surprisingly good.

Figs on flatbread

Figs

Alas, figs are available for only a short time.

A few weeks ago, I had some figs that have to be eaten soon, so I made a version of figs on flatbread (from this recipe).  I toasted some flatbread in the oven for a few minutes, then placed some chopped red onions, sliced figs, crumbled goats cheese and a dash of balsamic vinegar on top and baked everything in the oven at 350F for 8 minutes.

I also tried the same recipe with plums, but skipping the balsamic vinegar.  Baked plums are really tasty too!

Banana Bread

Bananabread

I saw this recipe on Orangette's website for banana bread.  It seemed interesting because there's no oil or butter used.  I didn't have enough chocolate chips, so I used a mix of chocolate chips and chopped up Ikea dark chocolate bar (that I never got around to eating).  I also reduced the amount of sugar to under 2/3 cups, and I think it could probably do with 1/2 cup of sugar since the cinnamon sugar topping and the chocolate adds enough sweetness.  I also added a dollop of plain greek yogurt because my bananas were rather small.

I made this for my thesis defense (months ago),together with a cranberry yogurt loaf, but I didn't get to eat any because by the time I was done, all the food (which included a lot of Izzy's bagels and cream cheese) was gone.