Gonzai Gallery

Well, whaddya know - we have a white Christmas. Can't remember the last time that happened, but almost an inch of snow fell today, just enough to touch up everything. Nice. Unfortunately it also touched up the roads, a friend didn't even try to come after she barely made it home, and the family was late.

I've got a decent haul: the Kindle, of course; series 2 of 'Luther'; Dr Who's 'Christmas Carol' special; Cards Against Humanity; a party game called 'Martini Time', how appropriate; some books and some accessories for the Kindle. Promptly spent time playing backgammon with No. 1 nephew on the Kindle. Mom's haul included a book written by a certain meerkat-ish author (thanks for the signed nameplate, she loves it!) and a ton of Keurig-related things to include the machine itself. I don't drink much coffee, so I've never been inclined to invest in one; but the family is crazy for theirs and felt Mom should have one. Fortunately they did include a lot of tea for Mom and cider & chai for me. The boys were very happy with their games (Carcassonne, Ticket to Ride USA, and various card and Star Wars games), Janine loved the necklace & earrings and Mike is intrigued by his annual sampler CD.

The dinner was crazed; we did the usual pickup of a complete dinner at Safeway, but for some reason half the stuff was frozen solid. The turkey's juice overran the pan and caught fire in the oven, fortunately just smoke. The mashed potatoes needed over twice the recommended time to cook because they were an ice cube, and Mom forgot the vegetables until after everything else was cooked, so by the time the veggies were ready most things were cold :/  But it was a darn good turkey and mashed potatoes, and I suspect we'll be eating it all week.

Phew. Need bedtime. After I let out the hysterical dog.

Here I sit and wait for the Dr Who special...not patiently, I assure you! It's already been a Doctor-ful weekend, as I recorded several specials from BBC America and one of my gifts was the Series 5 DVD set. Also landed Series 1 of Luther, Ticket to Ride: Asia, 7 Wonders, and Transeuropa. That part of the haul was good. Unfortunately, my sister-in-law bought a bunch of clothing for Mom and I and I'm pretty sure not a single one of them fits. And Mike bought some bathroom fixtures for us with the intent of installing them, but somehow he had managed not to notice we had the bathroom redone in August. Oops. The boys were thrilled to pieces with their huge haul of Beyblades and Legos (of which we only produced a third or so), and the dinner turned out well despite Mom's insistence that she knew better how to cook a prepared meal than whoever had prepared it in the first place. It took a lot of work but most things only got cooked once, and except for the gravy not for overlong. But it took a lot of oversight!

We just got home from Mike's house, where it's tough to walk around with all the Beyblade & Lego detritus on the floor. Not safe to walk around either, as the boys are engaging in Nerf gun battles with their other aunt and her hubby. I did manage to finally get Mike to try some games, teaching him Settlers of Catan and Ticket to Ride, and he really liked TTR. I know because he interrupted Jeff's piano recital later to tell me he'd figured out what his mistake in the game was and how he'd fix it next time and beat me. Yeah, admit it, you liked that game! And after a lot of too-rich food and a lot of one-handed piano playing, we're home. Just in time for Packers v Dr Who. Wait...

Last night I watched the season finales of Treme and Luther. And both of them felt like series finales, not season enders. I hope I'm wrong about that, but I have seen/heard nada on either show.

Last week I made a comment on the Sun's film blog about Idris Elba being named the new Alex Cross. The upshot being, congrats to Elba, but please don't stop working on Luther. We need more Luther.

Well, in this morning's paper...the print version...the "quote of the week" from their week's worth of material was...mine. Fortunately it's not embarassing or inflammatory, but it's not exactly sublime or informative either. But there it is. Gonzai, quoted in the Sun. Whaddya know.

Took an age to get my mitts on it, but I got it. ( Here There Be Spoilers )We have to wait a year for more? If there is more, that is? Please be more? More, pretty please, huh?

Luther is a new British crime drama that premiered last week, starring Idris Elba (The Office; The Wire) as a time bomb of a detective. Short version: if you like Wallander, you'll like Luther. If you haven't seen Wallander, think Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Goren episodes - except no Eames around to keep a leash on him. Really dark stuff and they almost lost me with one element of the first episode's crime (animal lovers bewarned), but Elba is awesome (playing about 10 years older than he is) and they're definitely taking this in an unusual direction. For Whoniversers, the cast includes Indira Varma (Torchwood) and Paul McGann (Eight). Check it out.