Beer Can!!!

Beer can chicken was always something I heard about, but never tried. I never even saw anyone do it in real life. Well a visit from Megan's parents became the impetus to try it. What did I learn? It was surprisingly easy, for one thing. Of course, the chicken was moist and flavorful, but all the other food on the grill benefited from the steam too. Beer can corn, as a side effect, was a nice bonus.

It didn't look to comfortable for the chicken, but then again, without a head, the chicken's worrying days were over.

The song of the week is Beercan, of course.

Chick Flick Marathon (A Shirley MacLain Double Feature)

I guess "chick flick" generally describes movies women tend to drag unwilling men to go see. However, the term also can be used for movies primarily about women, and since the women in these films are neither scantily clad nor kicking ass, men tend to avoid those as well.

Well I wasn't going to avoid the two that Megan picked out for us this past week. Megan hardly ever wants to see movies. She's more of a television watcher. I'm the opposite, so when she gets in the mood for film, I'm very willing to go with her choices. Coincidentally, both featured Shirley Mcclain in supporting roles as grandmothers.

The first was the romantic comedy Rumor Has It... starring Jennifer Aniston. It was directed by Rob Reiner famous for This Is Spinal Tap and The Princess Bride, two movies I could easily describe as groundbreaking. Also the premise, about a woman who finds out her family was the inspiration for the movie The Graduate, looked promising.

Unfortunately, it failed to deliver. Aniston had a real opportunity to play a dark, complex character, a woman trying to find herself. I don't know whether it's her good girl image or her own acting limitations, but she absolutely did not make this person interesting at all. I could not help thinking about how another actress, for example Catherine Keener, could delve further into the edginess while still pulling off the comedy and like-ability. Also, there was no chemistry in the supposed romance between her character and Kevin Costner's. Shirley Mcclain was wasted in this film, playing one of those generic sassy grandmothers, past her prime seductress years. Add on the missed opportunity to have fun with The Graduate references and a completely forced ending, and I was about grade this movie with a D. However, since it really wasn't aspiring to be more than a fun, distracting, popcorn, romantic comedy, I really can't give it anything lower than a C-.

The second was In Her Shoes directed by Curtis "never made the same movie twice" Hanson. It was classic chick flick material, about the relationship between two sisters: one dumb and pretty, the other smart and not so pretty. The film, however, elevated the material well beyond its stereotypical premise. Cameron Diaz, successfully taking advantage of her party-girl image and inherent hotness, added dimension to her dark, troubled character. Both Toni Collette and Shirley MacLain were wonderful as well, the latter playing a grandmother with too much regret in her past. Curtis Hanson, who always captured locations well in his previous work (Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, Detroit) did a wonderful job immersing me in Philadelphia. Some minor flaws, like a rushed third act and two scenes going too far to demonstrate one character's lack of intelligence, left me giving the movie a B+.

So it was fun, watching films in a genre I usually don't, and I'm definitely happy I had a chance to see In Her Shoes. Up next for me is the Queen Latifa vehicle, Last Holiday.

Striking Resemblance

Doesn't this baby look like Paige? I wonder who it is...

Grill From My Girl

I just wanted to thank my generous wife for indulging me with a new toy for my first Father's Day. It came as a complete surprise (because we already had one,) but this one was much bigger than our old one. Since it allowed me to do some indirect grilling, I decided to start some pork loins.

Thanks, Megan. I love you.

He Lanced My Awful Boil With The Gentlest Ease

With Paige in my life, it has been tough to leave her to go to work. I've been doing night shifts this week which has made it more difficult for Megan to care for her. Additionally, the E.R. has been terribly busy, so at the start of my shift I haven't been in the best of moods. However, last night, I arrived at work to find a note that immediately put a smile on my face. It wasn't just the sentiment, it was the language too.

It's not all indie rock and hip-hop with me. I like Top 40 music too.

Congrats, Randy.

Randy was a tech in our E.R. working while going to nursing school. Well, he recently graduated and celebrated with an all day BBQ party. Unfortunately, because I had to work, we only caught the last couple of hours of it. We missed a lot of the daytime guests, but we did see the fireworks. Apparently, I only took pictures of people who held the baby. It was Paige's first party after all.




Since the World Cup started this week, I think this song choice is pretty obvious.

Where Have We Been...

For those of you who may have noticed me missing from AIM, we spent the last five days in Ocean City, Maryland, at Chez Nguyen's (meaning my parent's beach condo.) It started out crowded, very fun, but very crowded. We met Long, Mary, Kaitlyn and Alexander there, and then we were joined by Bill and his parents. That made a total of three familes with four children and one fetus (I guess I just counted Bill among the children.) Unfortunately, it was too much for a two bedroom condo, so the Navarros had to get a hotel room.

The weekend was marked by lots of home cooking and the first night was no exception: seafood soup, crabcakes, potatoes and a tossed salad. We could have hoped for better weather, however. We had two days of sunshine and three days of rain. We did make the most of the sun. Bill and I got a couple of exhausting runs on the beach, Megan and I had a few walks with Paige and, of course, there was the requisite time on the sand and the walk on the boardwalk. The water was a bit cold, Megan estimated its temp to be in the upper 50s, and the only time I went in was after the run.

As for the rainy days, I did go to work for one of them. We also spent time watching my most recent Netflix movie In America, which we loved. My sister and I agreed it got quite dusty in the room by the end of the film. A bit fairy-tale-ish, but I didn't mind.


For music, I felt I shortchanged Gnarls Barkley last week, by providing the single that everyone has heard, so here's the title track.

Memorial Day Weekend (A Summary)

Began the weekend glamourously by working an extra shift on Saturday. On Sunday, we went against beach traffic by heading north to Megan's parents in Pennsylvannia. Went to a barbeque at her Aunt Jackie's place, although Megan tried to tell me it was a picnic (no basket, no blanket, and it took place in someone's home... does that sound like a picnic?) Remarkably, Jackie's six month old grandaughter, Evelyn, from Chicago was there with her mom. It was a monumental meeting of babies for the Dilger family and we all got a kick out of taking pictures that included four generations of Dilgers. Evelyn's mom, Carolyn, assured us that there is going to come a time when Paige sleeps through the night (we can only hope) and revealed to us her baby-calming technique ("the wheels on the bus go round and round...") Outside of song choice, I think our methods are quite similar. All infants like a little bouncing after all.

Sunday was spent at Megan's parents. That afternoon, I had Paige in one arm and barbeque tongs in the other while we entertained Carl and Tony. It was our first time meeting Tony and Carl's first time meeting Paige. Definitely, good first impressions all around. I thought Carl and Tony made a nice match. My personal highlight of the day was our first Rita's trip of the season. Unfortunately, Paige didn't go with us, and it felt extremely odd for Megan and I to spend an hour together without the baby.

Overall, it was a good weekend that rivaled the winter holidays; lots of food and lots of family and friends. Pictures tell the story much better.

What's new in music? Well, I hope all of you are listening to Gnarls Barkley. if not, you must hear the single immediately. The rest of the album holds up too. Last week also marked the American release of Art Brut's 2005 album. I can't decide which song of theirs to post, so I'm giving you "Formed a Band" for their enthusiam (the greatest declaration of love for rock and roll since Joan Jett) and "Emily Kane" for sincerity. 2006 is shaping up to be a good year for front men, as these are two of the most charismatic lead vocalists I've heard since... Jon Spencer... umm... Andre Benjamin?