My husband and I have been enjoying this snack lately, and it’s healthy and easy to make.  You’ll need:

Apples – Type is up to you – we think Granny Smith tastes best for this.  I also tried it with Gala apples which are good, but I  don’t recommend softer varieties like Red Delicious.

Peanut Butter – We highly recommend natural peanut butter – Smucker’s makes some.  It’s a little more expensive than the standard variety like Skippy or Jif, but it contains only peanuts and a little salt – none of that other junk like hydrogenated oils, sugar, and who-knows-what-else.  The taste of real peanut butter is amazingly better than the junky kind too!

Grape Nuts Cereal

Basically, you just slice the apples, cover them with peanut butter(less if you’re watching your fat intake), and sprinkle with Grape Nuts – it’s really good!  And it’s great for a snack or light lunch for diabetics also because the protein in the peanut butter lowers blood sugar that might be elevated from the apples and cereal.  If you decide to try it, let me know what you think in the comments section!

Last weekend, while in Chicagoland headlining at the Horeshoe Casino, Regis Philbin did NOT partake of the deep-dish Chicago pizza.  He apparently likes thin crust.  He did make a stop at a West Side hot dog stand.  Felony Franks is unusual in that it hires only former felons after they have served their time behind bars and are out looking for a job.

The menu is centered on crime: misdemeanor weiner, custody dog, probation burgers, etc.  No mention of justj’s mentioned Chicago style dog.. is that a crime?  A stand in Chicago that does not feature the Chicago-style version?

What do you think about the new stand?  I would say that I would be hesitant to purchase a hot dog from a former child molester or murderer.  And apparently, the press has been rather heated on the venue.

Last Friday, I watched one of last year’s most talked about movies (at least in my circles).  I must say that the Clint Eastwood helmed/Angelina Jolie-starring film Changeling was well worth the months I have been endeavoring to watch it.  The story itself was harrowing made even more dramatic by the fact that is factually based.

Since taylhis has already given an excellent synop, I will mention the pains taken in the creating of late 1920-early 1930s Los Angeles.  Costuming, set design, the music, everything put you right there.  The only building that is still standing in the greater LA locale is the City Hall itself which has been seen in numerous television series and movies (I can think of two immediately: The Naked Gun and the watchable if laughable updated Dragnet starring Tom Hanks and Dan Aykroyd).  Eastwood even resurrected the LA streetcar (which have been out of service since 1961).  The multi-talented director also composed the musical score for the film which he has done in many of his efforts… primarily with his passion for jazz.  The costume design was totally period.  Did telephone switchboard operators really move along on roller skates… complete with key?

And here is my extreme geek topic of the day.  The fact that (The) Changeling is a title of a TOS episode was not lost on me.  In fact, some theatres received the film under the name Nomad which was the name of the space probe from the 1967 season two episode.  Not a total geek, I had to cheat on the year the episode premiered.

A truly memorable viewing experience.  Again, totally robbed at Oscar time (and Clint was not even nominated).

Have you ever heard of the Dutch artist M.C. Escher?  His famous works depicted impossible realities, often based upon mathematical and spatial challenges.  Case in point, one of Escher’s most famous works, titled Relativity:

Let me guess, even if you’ve never heard of M.C. Escher, you’ve seen the above  picture, right?  But have you ever seen it in 3D?  Seems people have been recreating Escher’s art in Lego form, which I think is pretty cool!

How about more of Escher’s most famous works, done in 3D Lego style?

I had a little laugh out of these videos.  Now let’s all forget about that dog-training stuff we all have read about or seen on Animal Planet and the like, and just imagine these dogs are as conservative as their humans. 😉

Okay, I tried to get you to suspend disbelief for a moment- did it work?  Anyway, one of these videos has a definite giveaway on the training- can you find it?  The other one I’m guessing is happening off-camera unless I missed it.

There’s a celebrity in Britian named James May who has a show on the BBC called “Toy Stories”.  Each episode centers around adventures he has with one of Britian’s best loved toys.  For the  episode about Legos (to be aired in the spring), he had a life-size Lego house built in which he lived for several days.  While the house itself didn’t look all that cool from the outside, it was fully furnished with Lego, including a working commode.  Here are some shots from the inside set to a groovy little song, “I’m living in a Lego house…” It’s a  shame that the entire project went to waste when they tore the thing down…  prospective buyers were scared off by the million dollars it costs to move a Lego house.