(Aloha) Friday Ramblings

Aloha Friday!! My latest new toy came yesterday. It's the Edge Pro Apex. I've been oogling over Japanese knives for a few months now and in order to help maintain the krazy keen sharpness of these knives, I thought I'd better learn how to sharpen knives the correct way. Rather than trying to learn the freehand method, I decided to go with the Apex. There are a lot of information out there about Japanese knives and sharpening knives. Just Google it.

So far, I've only practiced on my old Chicago Cutlery Chef's knife. Not krazy keen sharp yet (or razor sharp if you will). But I'm going to practice more this weekend. I'm told the learning curve varies so I'm not discouraged yet. Besides, I've got forum friends always ready and willing to answer any questions I have (thanks, Captain Buzz!). And if UPS is on time, I should have a couple of Japanese knives waiting for me when I get home from work. I'll post on those later.

Other than that, not much else to report on. I got my second order for a personalized pet fleece blanket yesterday. Wow, wonder if I should just quit my day job and just sell pet items...ah, it's nice to have dreams! Maybe if I stop playing with knives, I'll look into, maybe.

We've watched a lot of movies lately.

• Hitman starring Tim Olyphant was entertaining (you have to accept it for what it is).
• The Painted Veil - I could have passed on it.
• The Invasion (2006 remake of The Body Snatchers) was okay, not as good as the Donald Sutherland version.
• I Am Legend was extremely depressing for me (if you watch it, you'll know why).
• Dan in Real Life was good, started a little slow but was good overall.
• Can't understand all the hoo-ha-ha about Atonement. This movie was about 100 minutes too long; interesting ending though.
• To Kill a King should have been more aptly titled "To Burn a DVD."
• Halloween (2007) was just so-so. Just a slightly different take on the old story.
• Goya's Ghost was pretty good (I watched it myself). Personally, I think Natalie Portman has really improved her acting skills since her Star Wars Episode 1 days. She did a terrific job as the little girl in The Professional.
• Ratatouille was very cute. Sure, you can say that the topic was right up my alley but it was cute, nonetheless.

Don't have any new recipes planned for this weekend except maybe I will experiment with my chicken fingers using panko and baking it. So have an Aloha Friday and a wonderful weekend. Now go and eat well.