Movie Review: The Last Airbender

I first heard about the television series Avatar: The Last Airbender from an undergraduate in my lab who had immigrated to the U.S. from India.[1] Later I learned that my little brother, Nathan, also liked the series. When I saw the teaser trailer for the movie I thought it looked pretty good. But I never got around to seeing it at the theater. I've been waiting to watch the television series until I watch the movie since (I'm told) it will be less disappointing that way. Now that I've seen it, I guess I can put the television show in my instant queue on Netflix.[2]

Product Review: Tim's Sea Salt and Vinegar Chips

I definitely buy tangy potato chips (i.e. vinegar or lime) more often than I buy more conventional flavors of potato chip (i.e. sour cream and onion, barbecue, or plain). I also buy them more often than I buy Doritos. I've previously reviewed Lay's kettle-cooked sea salt and vinegar chips and Kettle brand sea salt and vinegar chips.[1] This time around I decided to try the bag which looked like part of a barbershop quartet (it's only missing the straw boater).

Product Review: Boar's Head Smoked ButterKäse Cheese

It's kind of silly that Boar's Head labels this as ButterKäse Cheese, since Käse means "cheese" in German.[1] I found this at Orem's Sunflower Farmer's Market. I generally try to avoid them because they're purveyors of "organic" food.[2][3] However, I heard that they have some cheeses that can't be found elsewhere. That much, at least, was true since this is the first time I've ever seen Butterkäse.

Distribution Maps II: Euastacus

In a previous post I presented the distribution maps I drew for the crayfish family, Parastacidae.[1] For one of the genera found in the Parastacidae, Euastacus (the "spiny crayfish"; see image to the right), there was another poster which showed the distribution of several of the different species. So, I made distribution maps for all of those, too!

Puzzle: Golden Gate Glory

This weekend Leann and I put together a puzzle that was given to us by our friends Ben and Carolyn Andersen. They're moving to Las Vegas, soon, so they're getting rid of some of their things. The puzzle, called Golden Gate Glory, was a 550-piece affair produced by Hoyle:

Book Review: Watership Down

The first time I read Watership Down was in Fourth Grade. The other kids in my class were impressed that I could read a book with over 400 pages in it.[1] It tells the story of some rabbits in Hampshire, England who leave their warren to start up a new one. First they must find somewhere suitable and then they must find some does so that their warren can persist. Leann and I just finished reading this together and I'm surprised at how different it is from what I remember.[2] I probably didn't detect it the first time I read Watership Down, but there seems to be an allegory about different types of governance.

Music Review: Paycheck

Despite poor acting performances by Ben Affleck and Uma Thurman, the movie Paycheck was quite enjoyable. The score was done by John Powell, who also scored the music for the Bourne trilogy and The Italian Job. In fact, this score has a similar sound to his music for those films. It also seems to be informed by the soundtrack to The Fugitive. Much of the music is somewhat bizarre—exactly what you would expect from a film based on the writings of Philip K. Dick.[1]