Saturday, January 12, 2013

Movie Interlude

Is it weird that I'm watching the BBC miniseries State of Play (very good, so far) and counting the actors I recognize from Doctor Who? I'm up to six so far, I think. I had to look up a couple to make sure they weren't in Doctor Who. Matt even caught one I missed, and he usually makes fun of me for playing "name that face" (but, I needed to figure out that the snotty Miss Bingley from the BBC Pride and Prejudice was the Vice-President of the Galaxy in the Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy movie!)

My list of Who actors so far:
John Simm
Bill Nighy
David Morrissey
Marc Warren

and Rebekah Staton, who looks very different as a blonde. 
And on top of all the Who people, add a really young James MacAvoy and also, Kelly MacDonald, LOVE HER. Not to mention The Hound from Game of Thrones. Weirdly stacked cast. Almost distractingly so. But this was also pretty early in a lot of their careers and they have gone on to bigger and better things. So, um, good for them, I guess is my point. 

Matt was making fun of me for watching modern BBC with no Mr. Darcy involved but I am home with a stuffy brain and a semi-cold and I just watched the first three of six episodes in one sitting and am going to be waiting by the mailbox until Netflix sends me the second half!

Edited to add: also one of the cops was the alien leader in the first episode of Doctor Who I ever saw. I guess if you do British tv, it's either Eastenders or Doctor Who, is what this really means.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Update (Fruitcake Edition)

I managed to get some During photos for once but then forgot the After. This one got gifted on Christmas day after about 3 weeks of marinating. I forgot that this recipe makes a double batch so the partygoers got to sample a slightly fresher one on the 16th.
This is Alton Brown's Free Range Fruitcake recipe - it uses dried fruit (not candied, except for the ginger) which you then macerate overnight in your liquor of choice. This year it was dark rum because it was available, good-quality and vaguely festive. Past years have involved applejack or brandy but I am not married to any specific tipple for this recipe so far.

It was a hit at the party, too. Nobody knew what it was so I sliced it up into chunks and it disappeared with nary a fruitcake/doorstop joke to be found. Although that may have been partially because my dad spotted it and started telling everyone "Don't eat this" so there would be more for him.