Flash Cards

One proven way to learn something is to drill yourself on it using flash cards. One side of the card will have a term and the other side will have the answer to the term. The website http://www.quisition.com offers flash cards on-line that you can use to quiz yourself on various topics. It doesn't cost anything to use the site. If the site doesn't have flash cards for something you want to quiz yourself on, you can create your own flash cards there. That's what I've done with colors and number 1 to 10 in French. I plan to add additional flash cards on additional numbers, time, verbs and other topics in French. By using the site, I hope to gradually increase my French vocabulary. Another plus of creating the flash cards is that you may help someone else learn your topic of interest. It's a nice site and one you may want to check out if you're trying to learn a particular topic. Cheers!

Restaurant Review

Last Thursday, I had lunch at the Hanover, Maryland Golden Corral Restaurant. The restaurant is located on Arundel Mills Boulevard and is close to the Arundel Mills Mall though not in it.

Lunch at the restaurant costs $7.19 not including tax. If you want a soft drink, it costs $1.69 plus tax. You do get free refills when you buy a soft drink.

Menu wise, it varies depending on the day and time. There are always some type of salads, meat dishes, vegetables and desserts available. The Golden Corral is a buffet type restaurant which means you help yourself and you can go back as many times as you want. There is a waitress of sorts who will get you your soft drink refills, more plates if you require them and take away your dirty plates.

I found I really liked this restaurant. You could try a dish you've never had before and if you didn't like, you weren't out of pocket for it. The food itself was well prepared and fresh. Cooking staff were constantly preparing food as food was consumed. I didn't see any dish that they ran out of. The food was also good tasting.

My waitress of sorts, I say sorts because I got my own food and the only things she helped me with was supply me with some clean plates and brought me soda refills, did a fine job. She also did a fine job of keeping her section clean.

Overall, I was very pleased with this restaurant. It isn't gourmet dining but it is excellent value and serves good filling food. I would definitely go back to this restaurant and would heartily recommend it. If you want an affordable meal out and are close to Hanover, Maryland, you ought to try the Golden Corral on Arundel Mills Boulevard.

Exercise

I am feeling right properly knackered right now. About 15 minutes ago, I finished doing 30 minutes on the treadmill and 30 minutes on the aerobicycle. I haven't exercised like that in over a year probably. I made sure I stretched before and after I exercised BUT, I suspect I'm still going to be very sore tomorrow. They say exercise is good for you but I suspect I won't think so tomorrow. Still, I think I did pretty decent for someone who hasn't exercised in quite a while. I took myself up to 5 mph on the treadmill and did that for 21 minutes before gradually taking myself back down. I managed to do 30 minutes on the aerobicycle at average speed of 52 rpm. That isn't burning up the track but, I wasn't going to be burning up any track after not exercising for so long. I hope I can manage to get myself over to the fitness center at least somewhat regularly so I can keep on exercising. We'll see.

Tripadvisor

I've been writing a few posts for a website called Tripadvisor. The sites features reviews on restaurants, hotels, and things to do by ordinary people like you and me. This means in theory that the reviews likely to be more honest. As far as I know, no one receives any kind of compensation for writing something nice about what they write about on the site. I was surprised to find out no one had written an article on the Maryland Renaissance Festival. In my opinion, this festival is one of best things Maryland has every year. I can't wait to go again this year.

Another thing I've done is provide information on the Baltimore/Washington D.C. Medieval Times. As I'm a semi-expert on the place, I thought I could provide lots of basic information on it that might be of use. The only annoying thing I've had with my article is I keep remembering things to add after the fact. I've edited the article something like 6 times.

If you're knowledgeable about sights in your area and would like to tell people about them, check out http://www.tripadvisor.com and write a few articles. Then, you can be something of an amateur travel writer which is kinda neat. Cheers!

Vanilla Milkshakes

Re: my Potbelly blog entry, I decided to try to make my own vanilla milkshakes. I wasn't thrilled with paying Potbelly $2.69 a piece for what they called a large milkshake. I looked for recipes on the internet and found a very simple one. It called for 1 cup of milk, 4 scoops of vanilla ice cream and 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract. I didn't have any vanilla extract so I put that on my shopping list. After work Sunday at Medieval Times, I drove over to the Arundel Mills Safeway. I found out that there are imitation and real vanilla extract. The real stuff costs more. I don't know how much of a difference there would be flavor wise between the two. I decided to play it safe and bought an 8 ounce bottle of gourmet vanilla extract. It was cheaper per ounce than the 2 ounce Safeway brand.

Once I got home, I gathered the various ingredients, inserted them into my blender and hit the cream button. Then, I poured the mix into my Medieval Times margarita glass. It turned out the recipe makes a very respectable vanilla milkshake. I was in milkshake bliss. Sadly, because of the high calorie count, I suspect I would be able to indulge too often my passion for vanilla milkshakes. Still, it is fun making them and even more fun drinking them. Cheers all!

Potbelly Restaurant

This past Thursday, I worked a matinee show (see my blog entry about that) and an evening show at Medieval Times. During the break between shows, I decided to buy some lunch at Potbelly's. I had two of their excellent vanilla milkshakes, their wreck sandwich with everything on it and a bowl of the chili.

Potbelly's continues to make great milkshakes. I was in milkshake bliss drinking the two I ordered from them. My only complaint with them is the shakes are not very big for what are supposed to be large shakes. They're also not cheap. It cost me $2.69 per milkshakes.

I thought the wreck sandwich to be a good decent sandwich. It cost $4 which isn't that much but it isn't a terribly big sandwich either. If you want to get filled up dining on their sandwiches, you'll have to have two of them. I will give a slight warning about the hot peppers they can put on their sandwiches if you request them. They aren't super hot but they do have some zing to them. I knew when I hit the peppers on my sandwich.

I found their chili to be decent. It wasn't super hot but chili doesn't have to burn the roof of your mouth off to be good. I do feel it was a bit pricy. I paid $4.50 for a bowl of their chili and it wasn't a very large bowl. If you wanted onions or cheese you had to pay extra for those which I thought annoying.

Overall, I found Potbelly's to sell decent sandwiches, excellent though pricy milkshakes and good though pricy chili. If you want a nice lunch, they're worth considering. However, for value for money, this place doesn't deliver.

Matinee Show

I worked a matinee show at Medieval Times yesterday. The matinee show is different from the regular show. It is a show tailored for school groups. The first 30 minutes of the show is an entertaining lesson on life during the Medieval Age. Princess Esperanza talks about the clothes women would wear and how marriages were arranged during that time. King Alphonso tells how a man could become a knight, how a coat of arms works and what a man would wear during that age. The King of Arms demonstrates some of the weapons of the time and talks about the armor a knight would wear. The Lord Falconer demonstrates falconry by by giving a demonstration of lure flying.The Lord Chancellor opens the instruction and helps things run smoothly between King and Princess and those in the arena where the weapons demonstrations and falconry take place. It is a very interesting and effective way to teach students in grade school, middle school and high school about the period.

After the instruction on the age, the show reverts back to a normal show with a couple exceptions. In order to make up for the time lost to the instruction on the age, two parts are cut out of the show. The Master of Horse doesn't do his demonstration of maneuvers done on horse and the Guards Quadria don't do their demonstration of precision horsemanship. Nothing is lost by cutting out the two parts. The show retains its suspense of who will become the new King's Champion as well as the romantic story of Princess Esperanza being in love with one of the knights.

Overall, the show is a very effective way to teach students about the age while enabling them to have some fun and enjoy some good food. It is very popular with school groups for these reasons. I personally think it is a neat way to teach about the age. I also enjoy working the show as it breaks up the monotony of working at the castle. I'd definitely recommend it to any school groups out there who want their students to learn something of the age. Cheers!

Dave and Buster's

A friend and I got to eat at Dave and Buster's last night. I'd never eaten there before and was curious how their food was. When we sat down, our waitress promptly showed up and took our order. My friend ordered a pint of Bass beer/ale (I'm not sure which it is) and I ordered a bottle of IBC root beer. Our drinks were promptly served. We waited and we waited and we waited for our food. When it finally showed up, someone had messed the order up. My friend ordered the mix grill and they tried to give him a Philly cheese steak. I ordered the roast beef panini sandwich with french fries which they got right. I found my sandwich fair. I thought the order of fries small. I found myself getting a little irked by the waitress repeatedly asking if I wanted another $2.15 bottle of root beer. I mention the price because I don't think it's a good deal. Also, if I tell you once I don't want another root beer, it's a safe bet I don't want another root beer. My friend finally got his food but our misadventure wasn't over yet. It seems our waitress tried to charge my friend for the Philly cheese steak which he didn't order AND the mixed grill. My friend spoke with the waitress and eventually got it straightened out.

Overall, I'd rate Dave and Buster's food as fair. I don't think it is very good value for the money. I'm also displeased with how long it took for our food to arrive. I think someone made a mistake some where on that. Lastly, I was displeased with our waitress for the mistake on my friend's bill, her constant pushing for me to buy another drink and another possible gaffe she may have made. I won't fully explain the possible gaffe at this time as I want to determine if it was a mistake or not. I plan to dine at Dave and Buster's again so I can see if this is the norm at Dave and Buster's or if it was a one off. I'll you know what I find out then. Cheers all!

The Hobbit Update

I saw on http://www.rottentomatoes.com the latest comments made by director Sam Raimi about making The Hobbit. Raimi has been rumored to New Line Films choice to direct the movie since their falling out with Peter Jackson. According to the Rotten Tomatoes site, Raimi said in an upcoming interview in Entertainment Weekly that if Jackson didn't want to do the film and Bob Shaye (CEO of New Line Films) did and both men gave him their blessing, he'd be happy to make the film. Considering that these two men can't agree on any thing now a days, Raimi would do well to work on other potential projects in my opinion.

Honestly, I don't think The Hobbit will be made until New Line Films loses the rights to it. Saul Zaentz owns the rights permenently from what I understand. He sold them for a set time to New Line. New Line must make The Hobbit in that set time frame. If New Line fails to make the film in that time frame, poo on them. Once that time frame is up, the rights revert back to Zaentz. Zaentz has supposedly shown sympathy to Jackson's beef with New Line and it sounds like he'd be willing to do a deal with Jackson. For your information, Jackson claims there were accounting irregularities with the Lord of the Rings and he wants an independent audit of the movies. New Line has refused to do this and accused Jackson of being greedy i.e. we paid you a quarter of a billion dollars and now you want more. Bob Shaye has said for effective purposes that he has blacklisted Jackson from making The Hobbit. This is where Raimi comes in. It has been rumored that Raimi was approached by New Line about making the film. Considering the enormous differences between Shaye and Jackson, it is extremely unlikely Jackson will make The Hobbit for New Line Films. I've heard the rights will go back to Zaentz sometime in 2009. New Line must start production on the film before then. I haven't heard any word that New Line even has a completed script for the film. If they haven't, the chances of them making the film are very remote.

It is annoying that I'll have to wait till probably 2010 or later to see The Hobbit made by Peter Jackson. Hopefully, Sir Ian McKellen will still be alive then to play the role of Gandalf then. Also, I hope Hugo Weaving will be able to play Elrond. Barring that, none of the other actors actresses will need to return. You can point out there is Sir Ian Holm who played Bilbo but, in my opinion, he'll be way to old to play Bilbo. I think they'll have to get someone else for the part.

If you need a Tolkien fix, there is some good news. Christopher Tolkien finished putting together what will be the last work ever done by J. R. R. Tolkien. Over the years, Tolkien wrote a number of stories about the First Age. The First Age was age when the elves first appeared and created a number of kingdoms. It is also the age when one of the Gods of Middle-Earth rebelled against the supreme God Iluvatar and carved out his own kingdom in Middle-Earth. The novel "Children of Hurin" tells of one man who fought against the dark God and a terrible curse the God laid on him. By all accounts, it isn't a very cheery story. Still, it is previously unpublished Tolkien. The novel also has some outstanding illustrations by Alan Lee who worked on the Lord of the Rings movies and has a number of outstanding illustrations for The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. It's in book stores now if you're interested. Cheers all!

Cloaks

This past weekend, we had some heavy rain Saturday and early Sunday. It gave me a chance to wear my real cloak. I say "real" because it is a real cloak vice a costume cloak. I think I have some admiration for things from earlier days. I like wearing my full length English riding boots and find it fun wearing my cloak. I had a bit of a misadventure with my cloak. I bought my first one from http://www.tolkientown.com and found out to my dismay that is was purely costume though it's a very nice costume cloak. I wanted something that would keep the rain off and the wind out. A costume cloak won't do that. The second cloak I bought was from http://www.bytheswordinc.com. I'd told them what I wanted length wise and they assured me they'd see to it. I wanted a cloak that would be only about 3 or 4 inches off the ground. That way, it would keep most of me dry if it rained. Someone goofed, whoever made the cloak assumed I had a 3-foot high head and a 10-inch neck. I nearly choked trying to close the cloak around my neck. Unlike the tolkientown cloak, this one was a real cloak and looked very nice but because of the mistake with the hood and neck, it wasn't going to work. I resolved to find a place where I could actually try on cloaks. I found out that Moresca (http://www.moresca.com) sells them. They have a nice shop at the Maryland Renaissance Festival (http://www.rennfest.com). It was there that I got to try on the cloaks they had. They had a number of different colors. I decided to go with black as I thought that was a manly color. I forgot that people associate black with evil and darkness and didn't realize how some people might react to that color. I found out later.

Overall, I've been very pleased with my "real" cloak. I think it looks cool and it has definitely done the job. I've also found it great to wrap up in during a cold night. It's like wrapping up in a nice wool blanket. I'll have to see about posting a picture of me wearing it sometime. That's the end of my cloak tale. Cheers all!

Changes at the Castle

I've been surprised recently by a number of changes at the Medieval Times I work at. I found out yesterday that the Reservations Manager had left a month ago. I found out so late because it seems those of us who work in Sound & Lighting are out of the loop as far as what is going on the castle. In regards to the Reservations Manager, I was sorry to see her go. She was always very kind to me while I was working in security. Sadly, I didn't see much of her after I moved to Sound & Lighting. I wish her the best at her new job with Holiday Day Inn.

I was also surprised to find out our Operations Manager had moved to the castle in New Jersey. I suspect this is so he can be closer to family up there. I was sorry to hear he'd left. I found he could be very kind. I remember having a hard day at the castle. He could see it'd been rough. He came up to me and told to me to take a break so I could recover. He was also very kind during my gall bladder surgery. Conversely, if he got a hair up his butt, he was someone to avoid. I found that part annoying. Overall, I'm sorry to see him go. He was very kind to me. He was instrumental in helping me get free tickets for some friends using my birthday voucher. I wish him the best of luck at the New Jersey castle.

One nice bit of news concerned a former co-worker in security. He's been working in security for over 3 years. He dreamed of getting the Lord Chancellor or King part. This year, he vowed to get one of the two parts. Just three weeks ago, he was selected for both parts. One of the people playing the King gave notice and then the main person playing the Lord Chancellor got fired. He's now scrambling to learn all the lines for the Lord Chancellor part. In my opinion, it's the hardest in the show. I wish him the best of luck with it.

Another delightful bit of news was a co-worker in Sound & Lighting getting selected for squire with the prospect of him becoming a knight in 2 years. He's a super nice guy and it's nice to see him get it. It's also nice to see the castle promote from within. Both, my former co-worker in security and my co-worker in Sound & Lighting paid their dues. It's great to see them move up to bigger and better things at the castle.

One last departure of sorts was a move from Sound & Lighting to Reservations. One of my co-workers decided to move to reservations as it would give her more hours and greater flexibility. She's a nice lady and I always enjoyed chatting with her. Today was her last day in Sound & Lighting. I'm saddened to see her move to reservations.

Later this week, I'll get to meet a new hire in Sound & Lighting. All I know about him is his name. As far as I know, he is a totally new hire i.e. not someone moving from another department at the castle. This week, he'll be busy learning how to operate the spotlight and the cues we use during the show. It shouldn't take that long for him to get up to speed.

That's all the news at the castle. I may get to work Thursday's matinee show this week. It would be my first matinee show in quite a while. I've told the Post Office I won't be working the city side Tuesday through Thursday. I've gotten a bit burned out at the Post Office and I don't want to see the place for a few days. Conversely, my job at Medieval Times continues to be fun. Unlike the Post Office, they don't treat me like a slave there. Hopefully, I'll get to work the matinee show. We'll see. Cheers all!

Casino Royale

One of the special features on the Casino Royale DVD is a short documentary called Becoming Bond. I watched it and I'd definitely recommend to others. The documentary tells the history of the book (it was the first Bond novel) and the first Casino Royale movie. It turns out it was made into a spoof on the later Bond novels and movies. For years, Albert Broccoli tried to get the film rights to the book. Finally, in the early 90's, they succeeded. The book presented some interesting challenges to Broccoli's film company. The novel is the first and so shows a young Bond who has just achieved his OO status. He's feeling his way as to how he should do things. Because the Bond in Casino Royale is younger, the film's producers had to ditch Pierce Brosnan. Plus, I think they wanted to get away from the previous Bond movies which had become a bit cliche. In order to revive the franchise, they had to come up with something new. By going back to the first book and showing a grittier and more raw James Bond, the film company succeeded in creating something new and fresh.

The documentary also tells how Daniel Craig was selected as the new James Bond and some of the problems he and the studio encountered. Not all Bond fans were keen on Craig becoming the next Bond and they weren't shy about making their opinions known. To qualm some of the jitters of studio higher-ups about Craig getting the role, the studio did one day shoots of each of the leading actors for the role so they could convince the studio higher-ups that Craig was the one. The higher-ups were convinced but various fans weren't. Craig states in the documentary that their criticism drove him to try to make an even better film.

Overall, I found this special feature in the Casino Royale DVD really interesting. I learned how Daniel Craig to the role of Bond, how the movie came about and learned something of the actors and actresses in the film. I wouldn't recommend you buy the DVD just for this feature. You should buy the DVD because Craig is one awesome butt-kicking Bond. But, the documentary is something worth watching and a really nice added feature to the DVD.

Leave

Last year, I had planned to do a Globus tour with my friend Harvey. Due to problems with my job, I sadly had to back out. Harvey kindly decided to put off Scandanavia until both of us could go. With my part-time jobs at the Post Office and at Medieval Times, there wasn't going to be any problem affording the trip this time. I also made sure I notified well in advance both places of my travel plans. I told my supervisor at the Post Office about the trip in December. In January, I filled out a Post Office leave form and submitted it even though I don't earn leave at the Post Office. I remember my supervisor acknowledging my request and writing it down on a stick-em note and putting it on the bulletin board above the computer he was working on. All should have been good to go.

After all the problems lately at the Post Office, I've started getting a little paranoid about my Scandanavia travel plans. The trip is only 4 and 1/2 months away. Everything is paid for barring optional trips during the tour itself. I asked two regular carriers if they thought I'd have any problems getting the time off. After all, I'd told my supervisor back in December and January. I was advised to fill out another leave and get my supervisor to sign it and keep a copy. It turned out to be really good advice.

I decided to take their advice and I asked my supervisor about the time off I'd requested back in December and January. To my disbelief, he had no memory of it. The stick-em note he wrote to remind himself was gone. I promptly filled out three more leave forms and got him to sign one this time. I'm keeping that one in my personal records. My supervisor told me that him signing the thing didn't guarantee I'd get the time off. I don't think my supervisor understands the situation. Barring serious illness, I'm going on that trip. After all the grief I've had at the Post Office, I won't have any qualms about giving notice if I can't go. I feel certain I'll be able to find another job or get hired on again with another Post Office when I come back. Still, I hope I don't have to give notice. I hate sacrificing a year of seniority at the Post Office. We'll see what happens.

Elessar's Crown Review

Elessar's Crown

Recently, I decided to buy the Noble Collection's Elessar's Crown. The crown is supposed to be an exact replica of the one used in the movie "The Return of the King." I found the crown I ordered to be very solidly made and very beautiful. It very much looks like the one they used in the movie and according to the Noble Collection, it's overlaid with silver and 24K gold. The crown has the gull wings which represents the seafaring history of the men of Numenor (Numenor was an island kingdom) with the tree which was descended from the great tree Telperion which Numenor had a seedling from and which we see in the movie.

 

The collection also supplies a nice stand for the crown. The stand has a nice dark brown wooden varnished base with images of the tree printed on each of its four sides. The flat area where the crown is placed with covered with royal blue felt and has a bronze plaque stating that this is the Crown of Aragorn which I think is a little gaffe on the part of the Noble Collection. To protect the crown, a clear plastic cover is provided that slips over the crown and fits well into the wooden base. The stand really complements the crown.

Overall, the crown is wonderfully made and would be an excellent addition to any Lord of the Rings fan's collection. The stand that comes with the crown enhances the crown. It does an outstanding job of displaying it. I would definitely recommend this product to any Lord of the Rings fan.

Kudos to Carmax

Last week, a light on my car dash started coming on. I looked in the owner's manual and found out it was a sensor that warns you have some kind of problem with the rear lights. The manual said it could be something so minor as a burned out light bulb. Not knowing squat about cars, I decided I had to take the car to the local Carmax Toyota dealership. I've found the people at Carmax to be consistently nice but had a bad experience with them over some warranty work. Because of that, I was a little leery about taking my car to them. Still, I wanted to get the light problem fixed and I felt they would know what to do. I turned out to be big time right.

I pulled the car into the dealership and walked to the customer service desk. The service rep whose name I can't remember now, asked me what was wrong with the car. I told him and gave him the spare set of keys. He walked out, turned the ignition and saw for himself the warning light that was coming on. I was able to see that it was the left rear brake light that was out. The service rep had another employee hit the brakes so he could verify that. Then, he opened the trunk and saw he'd need a screwdriver. He walked into his office and got one. He unscrewed the covering over the rear lights, pulled out the brake light and found that it was burned out. Then, he walked into the dealership and got a new lightbulb. He installed the bulb and checked the sensor. Sure enough, the problem was just a burned out lightbulb. I was delighted he'd solved the problem so quickly. I asked him how much it would cost to replace the bulb and he said "no charge." I was stunned. To the folks at the Laurel Carmax Toyota, many kudos for your great service today. I will definitely be using you in the future because of what your customer service rep did. This blog entry is also my way of saying thank you again.