A collection of old family photographs

My grandmother passed away shortly after Christmas last year. In the process of cleaning out her belongings, we found an old briefcase full of black and white family photographs. Most of them are from the 1930s or earlier, and some of them are even from the 1800s. There are even two tintype photographs, meaning that they're printed on metal. That shit is old. I didn't have a scanner, so I took pictures of them with my phone, which turned out ok.  Anyway, without further ado, here's a collection of old pictures I thought people might find interesting.

2012 Art

Below is an album consisting of all the artworks I completed in the year 2012. Some are titled, some are not. All were done purely for my own entertainment, although a few of them did end up being sold on Etsy. All total there are 39 pieces here, which doesn't include works in progress or failed/abandoned efforts. 

The Wizard of Oz: A Violent Tale of Prohibition-era Gangsters

The Wizard of Oz is one of the all-time classics of American cinema. It tells the story of a young girl lost in a strange land, who has to use the power of her imagination to find her way home.

Or, at least, that's what they want you to believe. My theory is that The Wizard of Oz is actually a giant metaphor. Now I know what you're thinking, it's a metaphor for the election of 1896 as written by L. Frank Baum way back in the day. Wrong. The Wizard of Oz is actually a metaphor for a violent movie about gangsters and Prohibition in the late 1920s. Consider this:

Dorothy is a small-town gangster who's looking to make her fortune by heading to the big city to run hooch to her hometown in Kansas during the height of the Prohibition era. Kansas, of course, is dry, which is represented by the black and white film, the dust, the tornado, etc. She arrives on the outskirts of Chicago (Oz) and immediately clashes with a local police captain (The wicked witch of the east), who she kills. This ruthless cop-killing earns her the respect and support of the local gangsters, (The Munchkins), who offer her protection in their territory, (Munchkinland).

Dorothy is offered various gangsters' weapons as a thank you. 

 Dorothy wants to meet with the big Chicago mob boss and booze kingpin, The Wizard of Oz (oz=ounces, the wizard of ounces, duh).The Munchkins agree to help her find him and give her instructions on where she needs to go (follow the yellow brick road). She decides she needs a posse if she's going to be safe, so she recruits 3 local gangsters to accompany her: a brainless thug (scarecrow), a heartless ax-wielding enforcer (tin man), and a ruthless killer from the jungles of the Dark Continent (Cowardly Lion).

We ride together, we die together. 

They set out to find the Wizard, but trouble hits them not too long after they begin. They're set upon by local law enforcement, represented by screeching flying monkeys, and narrowly escape capture. The chief of police, represented by the Wicked Witch of the West, has taken a special interest in Dorothy and her gang of murderous thugs, because she's responsible for the death of the police chief's friend and partner during that showdown in Munchkinland. The police chief attempts to use an opium sting operation to cut down Dorothy's rise to power and stop her in her tracks, even putting her on notice that she's wanted by the law (Surrender Dorothy), and it's successful.

It's the fuckin' 5-0! Run!

Dorothy and her gang are captured by law enforcement (flying monkeys) and taken to the police station (the Witch's castle). Although heavily guarded by police officers, Dorothy's gang overcomes their captors and helps Dorothy kill the police chief (wicked witch of the west), escaping captivity and being free once again to continue seeking The Wizard.

I didn't choose the thug life, the thug life chose me. 

Finally, she arrives at The Wizard's palace, a mansion painted in green, his signature color. After being allowed in by his bodyguards, Dorothy and her gang are escorted into the company of the Wizard after taking a tour of the mansion.

Getting past the Wizard's bodyguards

Dorothy meets the Wizard and tells him what she wants. There's no place like home- she wants to run booze back to her hometown in Kansas, where there's no booze and thirsty people. The Wizard is intrigued and snide, but continues to play mind games with her and attempts to confuse her. Finally, she makes the Wizard a final offer to accept her deal or suffer the consequences. He eventually obliges and agrees to help her get back to Kansas with booze. Dorothy is visited by the corrupt replacement local police chief, (represented by Glinda the good witch), who offers her protection in exchange for curbing the violence. Dorothy agrees, and begins the process of going back home to Kansas, where she will begin preparations for her rumrunning operation under the protection of the mob boss and the corrupt police.

Thoughts?

Thanksgiving Pizza

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and that means leftovers, and leftovers mean finding creative ways of eating the same stuff for 8 days straight. Here's a good recipe to use some of your Thanksgiving leftovers, or to get a taste of Thanksgiving dinner any other time of the year. The ingredients I used are:

Stuffing/Dressing

Macaroni & Cheese

Mashed/Cooked potatoes

Cranberry sauce

BBQ sauce

Whole wheat pre-made pizza dough

Cheese (I used goat cheese here, but almost any kind will work)

Leftover turkey/chicken/ham

French's French Fried Onions

Optional ingredients:

Green onions/chives

Any other pizza toppings you want

Green beans

Not pictured: leftover chicken.

Roll out the pizza dough on a greased baking sheet and preheat the oven to 400. Bake the crust for 8 minutes and remove from oven.

To make the cranberry bbq sauce, I took about 1.5-2 tbsp of whole berry cranberry sauce and mixed it in a blender with regular BBQ sauce. Cranberry is a pretty strong flavor so you don't need a whole lot.

Spread about 1/2-3/4 cup of cranberry BBQ sauce on the pre-baked pizza crust. Now, add whatever toppings you want from your thanksgiving leftovers. Be creative.

I started with some leftover crock pot chicken from the night before, chopped into small pieces.

I forgot to get pictures of the in-between, but I proceeded to add macaroni and cheese, stuffing, mashed potato chunks, and goat cheese. Mozzarella works fine too. Next time, I'll add some chopped green onions and maybe some sun-dried tomatoes or roasted garlic. I'll also probably substitute gorgonzola for goat cheese.

Once your pizza is all toppinged-up, throw it in the oven at 400 for about 6-8 minutes. When it's done, take it out and top it with French's Fried Onion crisps. Serve hot. 

Holy crap this pizza is good. Try it for yourself and see.

Saved By The Bell episodes that could also be porn titles

I was watching Saved By The Bell on Netflix recently and I realized that the series is full of episode names that could also double as the titles of pornographic films (in several genres, no doubt). I've compiled a list of the episodes of Saved by the Bell that could also be porn titles:

• Cream for a Day
• Pinned to the Mat
• Beauty and the Screech
• The Friendship Business
• The Zack Tapes
• The Babysitters
• Slater's Friend
• The Lisa Card
• Driver's Education
• House Party
• Screech's Woman
• Model Students
• Aloha Slater
• Blind Date
• Rent-A-Pop
• Jessie's Song
• 1-900-Crushed
• From Nurse to Worse
• The Fabulous Belding Boys
• The Senior Prom
• The Wicked Stepbrother (Parts 1 & 2)
• Miss Bayside
• Operation Zack
• The Last Weekend
• Fake IDs
• Date Auction
• Boss Lady
• All in the Mall
• Pipe Dreams
• Hold Me Tight
• Love Machine
• The Video Yearbook
• Snow White and the Seven Dorks
• Palm Springs Weekend (Parts 1 & 2)
• Mystery Weekend
• Zack's Birthday Party
• Screech's Spaghetti Sauce
• The New Girl
• My Boyfriend's Back
• The Bayside Triangle
• Day of Detention
• Teen Line
• The Masquerade Ball
• Wrestling with the Future
• Slater's Sister
• The Best Summer of my Life

If I told you in 1993 that the guy in the middle would someday put out a sex tape you would never have believed me.

Healthy homemade ice cream

Here's a great recipe to both satisfy your sweet tooth and not stray from your diet. I use a few ingredients but really the only ingredients you need are frozen fruit and water. If you want to make the deluxe stuff though, I use frozen fruit, zero calorie sweetener, sugar free creamer, and a little bit of almond butter. 

Ingredients:

2-3 cups frozen fruit

2 tbsp sugar-free coffee creamer (optional)

2 tbsp Splenda zero calorie sweetener (optional)

1 tbsp almond milk (optional)

1 tbsp nut butter (optional)

Less than 75 calories per cup.

Start by measuring 2-3 cups of frozen fruit into your blender. For this recipe, you need a decent blender. Your standard shitty $15 Walmart blender might not work. I highly recommend the blender you see pictured, the Vita-Mix. It was expensive but holy shit if it's not the best kitchen appliance I've ever bought, hands down. Worth every penny. Anyway. If you don't have a blender with a tamper included, you'll need to scrape the sides several times while blending. Add in 2 tbsp creamer, 1 tbsp almond milk, 2 tbsp of Splenda, and about a tablespoon of almond butter.

I added an ice cube just to fluff it up just a little. 

Blend all ingredients together on high for a minute or so. The idea is to break the fruit up fast enough that it instantly refreezes. If you have a tamper, tamp the ingredients into the blade as it blends. If it gets too hard or the motor begins to overheat, add a splash of water. If you don't have a tamper, use the ice crush setting on your blender and scrape it after every 2-3 seconds of blending. 

 

When it's ready, it will look exactly like ice cream that you'd buy at Baskin Robbins. 

It should have a thick consistency and should still be frozen. 

Voila. Fresh, homemade, healthy ice cream that's low calorie and easy to prepare. You're welcome.

Upcoming movies in 2012 I'm excited about

Lincoln

I explained in this post why I am looking forward to this. Daniel Day-Lewis is America's greatest immigrant and Steven Spielberg is America's most famous Xbox Live gamer. Not to mention James Spader, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Tommy Lee Jones, and Sally Field. My prediction: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor. Release Date: November 9, 2012

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The only thing more exciting than a new movie in the Lord of the Rings canon is THREE new movies in the Lord of the Rings canon. The Hobbit is the first movie of a trilogy that tells the story of Bilbo Baggins back when he was a young thug slinging game on the east side of the Shire, who gets ahold of some baller-ass jewelry and decides he needs to protect that shit. Release date: December 14, 2012

Les Miserables

Not only is Les Miserables the greatest story ever told, the musical is one of the best Broadway masterpieces to ever grace the stage. This movie adaptation of the musical is especially unique because when they filmed it, instead of recording a master track and miming the songs, they actually sang live on each take, which promises to provide an even more intimate and powerful performance. Les Mis is by far my favorite musical and if the movie does it any justice, it may quickly become one of my favorite films as well. Release Date: December 25, 2012

The Master

Another genius film by Paul Thomas Anderson, The Master stars Phillip Seymour Hoffman as a charismatic and enigmatic science fiction writer and Joaquin Phoenix as his increasinly-disconnected-from-reality disciple. My prediction: Best Actor nominee for Joaquin Phoenix, Best Picture nomination, Best Director nomination, Best Supporting Actor winner Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Best Supporting Actress nominee Amy Adams. Release Date: October 12, 2012

The Frozen Ground

Although this one doesn't have a trailer yet, The Frozen Ground is based on the true story of Robert Hansen, a serial killer in Alaska in the early 1980s who killed between 17 and 21 women. It stars John Cusack as Hansen, who is being hunted by  Alaska state trooper Nicholas Cage with the help of an escaped would-be victim, played by Vanessa Hudgens. I'm looking forward to this mostly because it was filmed last winter here in Anchorage, so there will be plenty of places and things that I recognize, which is always fun in a movie. Not to mention any movie with Nicolas Cage is guaranteed to be a winner (see generally, every nick cage movie ever). Release Date: December 1, 2012

Django Unchained

Quentin Tarantino is back with Django Unchained, which tells the story of Django, a slave played by Jamie Foxx, who is bought by Christoph Waltz's character and turned into a bounty hunter in exchange for his freedom. It promises Tarantino's trademark acerbic dialogue and plenty of gratuitous violence. My prediction: the DVD release will have an hour of unreleased material. Release Date: December 25, 2012