The Pumpkin Patch Is In!

It's that time of year again. One week ago, I planted my 2011 pumpkin patch. However, due to the difficulties I had with my pumpkins last year I actually started preparing the soil a couple of months ago. There's really only one place in our garden where I can realistically plant the pumpkins without them completely overtaking everything else. As a result, I got nothing but a crop of rather small pumpkins last year. So, not long after I harvested them last year I started researching ways to solve the problem. One of the results came to be known as "The Pumpkin Pit." I dug up a nice big area and, over time, I replaced the soil with a combination of soil from other parts of the yard, manure and compost. The result will hopefully be a much better yield of pumpkins this year. In addition to planting the traditional orange pumpkins I am, once again, going to try my hand at Big Max pumpkins this season. I have also planted white pumpkins.

Now, you may have noticed in these pictures that in addition to the cute little boy, there is already a pumpkin plant growing. Now, I don't want anyone thinking that I went out and traded our only cow for a pouch of magic pumpkin seeds. No, that was a Big Max starter brought to me by our dear friends and arch pumpkin growing rivals the Handys. They referred to this gift as "The Gauntlet." It would seem that the age old pumpkin growing contest betwixt our families has begun. I would like to say to the family Handy: IT'S ON LIKE DONKEY KONG!!

The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business

So, a few days ago I watched the season Finale of The Amazing Race: Unfinished Business. As always, this season was great. This season was unique in that it was all made up of returning teams so I was already familiar with almost all of them. Unlike The Amazing Race: Allstars (which was also made up of returning teams), none of these teams had won when they were on for the first time and most of them had been eliminated because of one particular big mistake or problem. Zev & Justin had been eliminated because they lost their passports, Gary & Mallory because of an incompetent cab driver, Flight Time & Big Easy because of a Road Block that they just couldn't finish, etc.

Just as I did a couple seasons ago, I was cheering for Jet & Cord to win and, just as before, I was disappointed. They got U-Turned and it was all over. Kisha & Jen ended up winning and I was happy to see that. So, as I say every time, great season and I look forward to September when it will come back for season 19.

Fringe Season 3

So, the season finale of Fringe aired back on Friday. I have made some pretty long blog posts regarding this show but I'm going to keep this one short. Overall, a really strong season. It ended with a really great cliffhanger which I had to rewind and watch a couple times just to make sure I got what was going on with the two Walters, two Olivias, no Peter and a whole pack of observers. One of the great things about this show (besides the show itself) is the fact that it has already been renewed for another season. So, I will look forward to September to see what happens.

Which Olivia is holding the gun? Do you know? I do!

V Season II - Now We Wait

So, the second season of V just wrapped up about a week ago and it was great. All ten episodes of this short season were action packed and the show ended with about a million cliffhangers. This season introduced several new characters including two played by actors from the original 1980's V TV show. With the way this season ended it's clear that we are right on the verge of the truth about the Vs coming out and the real fighting to start. Hopefully, The Fifth Column (and now Project Ares) will be able to strike back against the Vs without so many of their plans backfiring.

Of course, all of this is dependent on V coming back for a third season. Unfortunately, there is a lot of speculation that this may very well not happen. Ratings for this season were lower than the first season. So, now all we can do is wait and hope that our buddies at ABC see the potential of this show and give it a chance. I think it would be a mistake for them to cancel it considering the somewhat militant online fan base this show has.

Liam Joseph O'Berry

Liam Joseph O'Berry was born today January 19, 2011 at 6:44pm at LDS Hospital. He was 6 pound 15 ounces and 20 inches long. He has ten little finger and ten little toes, two blue eyes and a little cute nose. Mommy and baby are doing just fine.

2010 in Review

Well, I have to say that 2010 was a MUCH better year than was 2009. Let's review some of the highlights shall we?

• After approximately 14.5 months of being out of work I got a job. More importantly, I still have said job.
• The LOST Series Finale lived up to all my expectations. You know, I even watched it while wearing my suit so I could be dressed like Jack was in the series pilot. Nerdy? yes.
• Patrick Rothfuss announced the publication date for The Wise Man's Fear.
• Alisa continued to become more beautiful.
• Alisa and I found out that we would be having another little boy.
• NBC premiered The Event.
• Chuck began its best season so far.
• I grew my first "Big Max" pumpkin.
• My dad gave me a 42" plasma TV. BEST CHRISTMAS EVER!!
• We purchased a new furnace just in time to get all the 2010 rebates.
• On the last day of 2010 I made the switch to a Blu-ray Disc player.

So, that about sums it up. Happy 2011 to you all!

The So-So Voyage of The Dawn Treader

So, yesterday Alisa and I went to see the The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of The Dawn Treader. In spite of the lackluster reviews this movie was getting from the critics I went in with high hopes. Dawn Treader is my favorite of the books so I really wanted it to be awesome. I'm sad to say that it was not all I hoped it would be. Well, it was pretty good but it wasn't great. They made some pretty major changes from the book which I didn't really care for and that seemed a bit unnecessary. Now, I didn't hate it or anything but it certainly wasn't as good as the first two movies. However, on the positive side I must acknowledge that the kid who played Eustace Scrubb just did it wonderfully. He is just the way I would have expected Eustace to be. There are also some comments that Aslan makes at the end of the book that give insight into his true identity but that I was worried might be left out because they are too blatantly Christian for most secular movie makers. To my surprise those comments were included. Overall, this was a fairly enjoyable movie. But, as I watched it there was just that nagging thought in the back of mind telling me that it could have been so much better.