Joel’s review of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

Posted on December 31, 2015 by Joel

30 years after the defeat of Darth Vader and the Empire, Rey, a scavenger from the planet Jakku, finds a BB-8 droid that knows the whereabouts of the long lost Luke Skywalker. Rey, as well as a rogue stormtrooper and two smugglers, are thrown into the middle of a battle between the resistance and the daunting legions of the First Order.

** MILD SPOILERS AHEAD **

Since as long as I could remember, fans like myself have been asking, wondering, if George Lucas would ever produce Episodes 7-9. The first real taste of stories to take place after Return of the Jedi was the Timothy Zahn Heir to the Empire book trilogy. Soon after, we had a whole slew of books by various authors, the Dark Horse comics, and video games.

After the news of Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Episode VII) was announced, I think many fans (such as myself) were guardedly anxious. Yes, J.J. Abrams could do well with Star Wars. We would finally see what happened after Endor, but visually. This could be fantastic. However, we’ve been burned before. You know I’m talking about George Lucas and his Prequel Trilogy. No, I’m not against prequels. His writing is terrible. And while I like J.J. Abrams  overall, Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) was terrible. Hollywood could very well screw this up royally.

After watching the film twice now, acknowledging some plot holes and retreading some A New Hope plot lines, bring us back to DEFCON 5. It’s a great film. The film has a great cast, especially with standout Daisy Ridley as Rey. Lots of entertaining action, good heartfelt moments, good writing, and the original characters are seen and treated well. And no long expositions about galactic politics. Thank the Maker.

There is a fine line between paying homage to a prior story, and blatantly ripping it off. I felt that Star Trek Into Darkness (2013) was a waste of a film, as it ripped off elements of Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan without reasonable payback. It was homage in a sense, but it felt lazy. There are similar plot lines and themes from A New Hope in this film, but I felt it was on the right side of it. Personally, it was just enough to harken back, but not unreasonably.

  • The biggest potential offender is the Starkiller Base you may have heard about. It’s basically another Death Star. Is it awfully similar to the prior films? Not really. The Knights of the Old Republic videogame? Large space station to destroy. Suncrusher from the Expanded Universe books? Yeah, monstrously huge ship that could wipe out entire solar systems. It’s a common theme that reoccurs within this particular galaxy.
  • Young nobody destined to be somebody? Hey, honestly, not a big deal. Common element of “The Hero’s Journey” trope. Desert planet origin yes, but eh. It’s not a big deal.

There are a few more homage elements, but all in all, it’s a good film.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

 

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Joel’s review of Joy (2015)

Posted on December 30, 2015 by Joel

As part of a double feature, Namita decided to have lunch, and watch two films back to back at the theater — first Joy (2015), then The Force Awakens with the kids. In one afternoon! We’ve never done that before. For a 1:10 PM showing on the last Wednesday of the year, the theater was surprisingly packed.

Joy is the not-quite-biopic, inspired by true events, story about a woman named Joy. She’s a smart, talented, put-upon, divorced mother of two, living in Long Island. She was the valedictorian of her high school class, and had a lot of promise. Life, however, went in a different direction for her, and she hasn’t lived up to anyone’s expectations. Not for lack of trying, but it’s like her bad luck or something. Anyway, she gets an idea that might turn around her entire life — a revolutionary new mop.  She has to then try to produce, market, and sell this mop, and thus change her life. The film stars Jennifer Lawrence as Joy, and there’s a large and talented cast in David O. Russell’s latest film.

I thought the film was okay. Yes, it’s a talented cast, but it seemed like the tone of the film veered over the entire 124 minutes.

  1. The entire first act seems like this dysfunctional family comedy. The supporting cast circling poor Joy acts nutty, and is seemingly dragging her down. You’ve got the mother (Virginia Madsen) spending her days watching General Hospital. Her father (Robert De Niro) moving back home and living in the basement with Joy’s unemployed ex-husband. She’s raising 1.5 kids (you see the daughter, but you barely ever see the son.) She’s got issues keeping her job at Eastern Airlines, trying to keep afloat financially, and managing the crazy family.
  2. The second act is all about Joy trying to develop and finance her mop.
  3. The final act is about Joy trying to protect her invention, and attempting to sell it on QVC.

On paper, you would think this would work, but it didn’t work for me. The tone of the story kept morphing and threw me off. Sometime during the third act, and after the 90 minute mark, I was waiting for the film to end.

Joy (2015)

Joy (2015)

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Disney on Ice

Posted on December 29, 2015 by Joel

Day 6 of Christmas vacation — Disney on Ice at Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. We took the bus with 50 other township residents, including friends.

It was good.

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Post-Christmas Dinner with the Winters

Posted on December 29, 2015 by Joel

As I mentioned earlier, Nums and I went out grocery shopping during our ‘Date Night’  last night. We had to pick up groceries for Sunday’s post-Christmas Sunday night dinner at our house. We were celebrating an old Indian post-Christmas tradition — a big fancy post-Christmas dinner followed by Queen Elizabeth II sneaking into the homes of children within the British Commonwealth to give them gifts.

Actually, the Winters had invited us over for Chanukah a few weeks ago, and we wanted to return the favor. We made this beef roast, brussel sprouts and bacon, carrot souffle, etc. Oh, and lots of malbec wines.

Christmas Dinner with the Winters

Christmas Dinner with the Winters

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Joel’s review of Spy (2015)

Posted on December 28, 2015 by Joel

Last Saturday night, the day after Christmas, the kids were sleeping over with their grandparents, which means a free night for Joel & Namita! Woohoo!

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Dinner at Blue Point Grill in Princetion

We went out to dinner at Blue Point Grill in Princeton, and had planned to go see a movie afterwards. Instead, we did some grocery shopping at the Whole Foods in Lawrenceville, and then came home to watch Spy (2015) on Amazon. Do you remember this film — it came out in June 2015, starring Melissa McCarthy. It looked pretty good to me when it came, and I wanted to support Melissa McCarthy getting more lead roles in film. Unfortunately, we never got around to seeing it…. until this weekend.

Susan Cooper is an unassuming, deskbound CIA analyst, and the unsung hero behind the Agency’s most dangerous missions. But when her partner falls off the grid and another top agent is compromised, she volunteers to go deep undercover to infiltrate the world of a deadly arms dealer, and prevent a global crisis.

It’s not a bad rental. Melissa McCarthy is pretty good as this CIA analyst that goes out into the field on this spy mission. She truly works hard. The supporting cast, especially Jason Stratham, were also pretty good. I thought one too many jokes fell flat at times, but I could live with it. McCarthy and Stratham were the best parts though.

 

Spy (2015)

Spy (2015)

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The year is almost over and I’m looking forward to some time off

Posted on December 23, 2015 by Joel

I can’t believe it’s December 22nd. The year is almost over. Tomorrow is my last day of work for the year, and I’m taking the rest of the month off. Thank goodness.

The good news is that, unlike 2013 and 2014, I’m not in the process of handing off work, and transitioning to a new employer come January. Even though those were both planned moves, both were based on unexpected and severe changes in management and strategy. Oh, it’s been a year of upheaval with my current employer too, but I’m currently riding it out. We’ll see what 2016 holds.

I hope you all are having a decent end of the year. For the past few weeks, we’ve been Christmas shopping, wrapping up work, and getting ready for time off. The kids have their last day of school tomorrow, and they’re excited. We don’t have an itinerary written in stone. What I am sure of so far is:

  • Dec 24 – Seeing Star Wars Episode VII, and having my wife’s family over for Christmas Eve stuff, opening presents, and dinner.
  • Dec 25 – Church, opening presents, and spending time with my side of the family.
  • Dec 26 – Attending a memorial service, and dinner out with the missus.

That’s really it. Seriously. No plans to go to the city. We’re not traveling to any far off places. We’re not staying in a hotel somewhere. I think we’re gonna play it by ear, do stuff around the house, Netflix and chill.

You know, I can’t honestly remember the last time a year that there wasn’t some sort of tumult, either at work or personally. The past few years saw me adjusting to new roles and organizations. While I was at Citigroup for six great years, the nature of the business (plus “The Great Recession” starting in 2008) made each year a little crazier than the last. We also had Josh and Lily as little kids,. We were trying to keep our heads above water dealing with two young kids, keeping our heads above water financially (first home, you know), and running around from one activity or event to another.

Maybe this isn’t something unusual. Maybe this is the norm. Food for thought.

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The house is decorated for Christmas

Posted on December 13, 2015 by Joel

We had the house decorated for Christmas again this year. Like last year, we used the same company to come out in November (before Thanksgiving) to design and decorate Christmas lighting. This year, we added in an extra wreath over the garage, and lighted garland around the front door. I like it, but may want to try out another design next year. You know, just to change it up.

Yes, I’m sure some of you are questioning why we would want to pay someone else to decorate the exterior of the house. Seriously though, we don’t have time to decorating like this. I am not getting up on the roof line to put in lights. I’m not spending hours to decorate that large tree on the front lawn like that. It would either take me forever, or I’d never finish before Christmas.

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I made my first batch of fried chicken ever

Posted on December 7, 2015 by Joel

Back in the day, when I was growing up, my mother used to make Kerala-style fried chicken. Or whatever it was, but it was good. Using spicy 4C bread crumbs, I thought it was delicious. Over time as she got older, she started baking chicken instead, resulting in mushy tasteless chicken that was supposedly “healthy.”

I resolved to learn how to make my own fried chicken. I didn’t need to necessarily recreate her old recipe, but I wanted a version that was spicy and good.

Last month, I took a trip down to Nashville to meet up and hang out with some friends. On our second night, we went to Hattie B’s in the city, and my God, that had to be the best fried chicken I’ve ever had. Spicy. Flavorful. Delicious. I wanted to make this! I found the recipe for Hattie B’s Hot Chicken (hot chicken is a Nashville thing), and decided to recreate it. If it worked out, I’d have something for my repertoire.

I bought all of the necessary ingredients last Wednesday, but by the time I wanted to start the dry brine on Friday, the $20 worth of chicken had gone bad. Argh. I went back Saturday night to buy 8 lbs of chicken. I did the dry brine of ground black pepper and kosher salt, and let it sit overnight in the fridge. Sunday evening around 6:30 pm, after we purchased and set up the Christmas tree, I started making fried chicken. I was making two batches — Hattie B’s and a regular batch of non-spicy southern fried chicken for the kids.

I made the batch of non-spicy southern fried chicken first, which was very easy.
Heat your oil to 325 degrees. Put your brined chicken in a large Ziploc bag with 3 cups of white flour. Sufficiently coat all pieces, shake off the excess, and fry for about 18 minutes. Done. Verdict? Kids liked it a lot.

The Hattie B’s Hot Chicken was much more involved. You have to make a dredge. You have to make an egg wash with Louisiana-style hot sauce. You also need to mix some of your hot cooking oil with cayenne pepper, chili powder, garlic powder, and a few other ingredients for the spicy coating.

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This is where it gets intricate:

1. Roll the chicken in the flour mixture.
2. Dunk it in the egg wash.
3. Roll it around again in the flour.
4. Fry it for 15-18 minutes.
5. Remove, place on a grill rack to cool slightly.
6. Brush on the spicy coating.

Delicious!

But, wait, there’s more! Frying with oil is tricky so don’t let the oil spill out. Frying food will also stink up your house for at least 24-48 hours. And cleanup will take a long time afterwards.

Lessons learned? I’d do it again, but a smaller batch — preparing and frying 8 lbs of chicken was a lot to do. And I need to figure how to NOT stink up the house.

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Our solar panel system is officially up and running. Huzzah!

Posted on December 4, 2015 by Joel

Since last we spoke, the Ipes were patiently waiting for our township to provide their certificate of approval, so that we could complete the rest of the process, and then turn the system on officially.

It took more than the expected two weeks, but eventually the paperwork came through. We got the call Wednesday afternoon that everything was done, and we could power on the system. The system (i.e. the inverter) has technically been “On” for a month, but whatever. I went through all of the steps outlined in the latest email from Trinity Solar to initialize the syste. I “re-paired” the system (I think), and that’s it.

I also called Trinity Solar to find out about monitoring power generation, and they emailed me a link where I could register. Once I was in, it was interesting to discover that the system has been collecting solar energy since November 11th. I don’t think that went anywhere, but I should follow up.

I haven’t seen any paperwork from our utility yet, nor do I have any idea how to get on one of these SREC exchanges where we will eventually sell our excess energy. I suppose we’ll eventually figure it out.

I’m glad it’s finally done. I believe I had started down this exploratory journey back in January, so it’s been a long time in coming. In the first six months of the year, we had met with three different companies (Sungevity, Solar City, and Trinity Solar) through many in-person and over-the-phone meetings. So much analysis and research. Discussions on whether we wanted a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA), a lease, or to own. So much work to secure financing so that we could own the system.

A long time coming.

2015-12-02

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I upgraded the home PC to Windows 10 Home edition and I’m liking it

Posted on December 1, 2015 by Joel

I am crossing off items on the task list with a vengeance. A small amount of vengeance. With determination? I’m trying, people!

It has been much delayed, but I made time this week to begin identifying and backing up any miscellaneous user data and application settings before the big upgrade to Windows 10. As a rule, we keep all user data on the secondary HDD.

I last rebuilt the home PC in 2012 with Windows 7, so it’s been long overdue for a refresh. My original plan was to deactivate a copy of Windows 8 Home sitting on my sister’s old laptop. I had rebuilt her laptop in October 2012 during Super Storm Sandy, but they stopped using it. I got the laptop from them, but was unable to power up the laptop and free up that unused license. Dang it.

In the interest of time, I purchased and downloaded a new license of Windows 10 Home, burned it to DVD, and installed it. Within an hour, I had the new OS up and running. I had opted for a clean start, but was surprised to find some of my prior GOG.com Star Wars 90’s / 2000s games still there on the C: drive. Not only that, these old DOS games were still workng. Without needing a reinstall. How odd.

So far, I’m really digging Windows 10. It’s fast. It’s fresh. It’s user-friendly.

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