November 24th, 2009
Have you seen the previews on TNT for Men Of A Certain Age? From the previews it looks pretty good…
The TNT website gives a good summary of the show:
“MEN OF A CERTAIN AGE explores the unique bonds of male friendship among three men experiencing the changes and challenges of mid-life. They have been best friends since college but now, in their 40s, are navigating through the second act of their lives. Joe (Romano) is a friendly, slightly neurotic, recently separated father of two who had dreams of being a professional golfer. Now he owns and runs a party store. Terry (Bakula) is a laid-back, handsome actor who seems to breeze through life (and women). Lately, he’s spending more time working as a temp than as an actor. And Owen (Braugher) is an overstressed husband and father of three who endures constant criticism from his father, for whom he works as a car salesman.”
I received a sneak preview of the first episode of Men Of A Certain Age to review here on DadThing Reviews.
From the previews that I had seen on TV, and also with the writers being Ray Romano and Mike Royce, from Everybody Loves Raymond, I expected the show to be a comedy. The show had it’s funny parts, however those moments were more dry humor, than laugh out loud funny…although I did laugh out loud a few times. 
The first episode seemed to be a bit slow getting to the point. Maybe this was because it was more about introducing the characters, but I would have thought the first episode would grab my attention a bit more.
Sorry to say, that if I would have been watching this on a normal Monday night, I probably would have changed the channel to a show I typically watch.
The previews keep mentioning that this show describes the “second act” of their lives. Hopefully, this episode was the “first act” and the “second act” is a bit more lively!
Knowing the talents of the three main actors, I think that the show will only get better, and I look forward to watching the story line unfold.
Men Of A Certain Age premieres December 7 at 10/9c on TNT
Full Disclosure: The sneak preview was provided by YouCast for review purposes.
Tags: comedy, drama, tnt, tv show
Posted in: TV Shows |
Views: 1,152 views
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November 19th, 2009
I recently had the opportunity to review both the Homestyle and Cinnamon (Gluten Free) french toast sticks from Van’s!
Ace and I usually have breakfast on Saturday morning and let Momma sleep in. I usally whip up some pancakes, or eggs, or even french toast, but not this past Saturday…
This past Saturday I got out the toaster and in just a few minutes we were eating Van’s French Toast Sticks. In fact we ate an entire box on Saturday morning, and then the second whole box on Sunday morning.
The only downfall with the french toast sticks was their packaging. The box is rather large and somewhat deceiving. In reality the box could be about half of it’s size and still fit all six toaster size french toast stick slices.
In fact, I think the over sized packaging may have been responsible for some of the slices being broken apart before I even opened the box. Each slice is about the size of a slice of bread and breaks into thirds…creating three french toast sticks. I tried putting the broken pieces into the toaster, but it would not work. I ended up having to throw out two of the twelve slices that were sent to me. If I had paid for this product I would not have been happy about throwing away 1/6 of what I had bought…
However, what I liked the most about these French Toast sticks was their texture. Usually things that are frozen end up being soggy once warmed up. The french toast sticks were not even the least bit soggy. I cooked them on a low heat setting…and ran them through the toaster twice. The outcome was a perfectly crisp shell covering a soft and fluffy inside.
In conclusion, I think if Van’s looks into their packaging and can guarantee that I will be able to put every single french toast stick into the toaster, then I would buy this product. I liked them…and I didn;t hear any complaints from Ace either!
Full disclosure: I received the Van’s French Toast Sticks as a sample.
EDIT: I should mention that after writing this review I received some feedback from the person who supplied the Van’s French Toast Sticks to me. She said that the reason the French Toast Sticks broke apart is because they were shipped to me in a cooler with dry ice. This environment was much colder that the normal storage temperature for the french toast sticks which caused them to get brittle. She assured me that the ones you buy in the store do not have this problem.
Tags: breakfast, Food, frensh toast stick
Posted in: Breakfast |
Views: 1,418 views
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November 18th, 2009
You are hiking. You are way out in the wilderness. You get lost. You can not find your way back to your car. It gets dark. You trip on a rock along the creek bed and fall in the water. You and your matches are wet. It gets cold at night…really cold. All you want is to start a fire. What do you do?
Pull out your Coghlans Magnesium Fire Starter that you keep in your backpack!
The Coghlans Magnesium Fire Starter is made of metal…magnesium. So it works wet or dry.
Magnesium burns extremely well in all sorts of extreme conditions including high altitudes, low oxygen levels, and even very wet conditions!
The Coghlans Magnesium Fire Starter is small enough to keep in your pocket with your pocket knife, which is the only other tool you will need to start a fire.
Hold the pocket knife at 90 degrees to the Coghlans Magnesium Fire Starter and scrape. You will produce tiny magnesium shavings. Pile these shavings up until you have enough to cover the top of a quarter.
Then pile up some dry material…grass, papaer, leaves, etc…next to the pile of magnesium shavings.
Flip the Coghlans Magnesium Fire Starter and strike your knife against the striker bar, which will create a very large spark! Aim this spark towards the pile of dry material and…POOF…you have a fire!
I tried this fire starter out in my basement…the most extreme condition I could find at the time. I piled up some shavings in the middle of a piece of paper, hit the striker with my pocket knife, and voila…the magnesium flashed and then the paper burned!
The Coghlans Magnesium Fire Starter generates a flame as hot as 5400 Degrees Farenheit!!!
What I Liked About This Product:
- It was small and portable
- It has a built in chain to hook to your keyring or backpack.
- The striker bar is built in
- It is reliable
- It is reusable
- It works!
What I Disliked About This Product:
- It takes a lot of time to scrape off enough magnesium shavings to generate a decent sized fire, but if you are lost in the wilderness…I guess all you have is time.
You can purchase the Coghlans Magnesium Fire Starter at Amazon.com
Full disclosure: I received the Coghlans Magnesium Fire Starter as a sample.
Tags: camping, Outdoors
Posted in: Camping |
Views: 1,706 views
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