I hadn’t really given it much thought, until I started reading World War Z, but when you watch your standard Zombie movie, you usually only see the perspective of the main characters in the plot. Sure, there may be a TV in the background which mentions that the whole world is being overrun, but that’s the most you get. If your lucky, maybe the Zombies get the newscaster while you watch.

Max Brooks really put a whole lot of thought into the global repercussions of a Zombie Apocalypse, including how various countries would try to contain the epidemic, as well as the ecological ramifications of the plague.

In the world of the book, a UN representative was sent to various locations around the world, after the epidemic has been contained, and he took accounts of what people experienced. After completing his work, the UN was glad to publish the facts and statistics of what happened, but didn’t want to publish the "human element" of the report. That is how this book came about (in the books fictional world).

The books is arranged into a series of interviews, organized chronologically. This was a really new take on your typical Zombie thriller, and I not only enjoyed reading the book, but I liked how the interviews gave adequate breaking points in the book.

Like any Zombie story, it isn’t something you would want to read to your children. I found some things in the book to be pretty disturbing, but totally believable. The only negative I can think of is that since there are no real main characters that you follow through the book, there wasn’t much of an attachment to any character, and there wasn’t a urgent need to see what happens next.

Overall a really good read, even if just for the interesting story telling style. I say 4 out of 5 stars.

Posted in Zombies, fiction, Books 3 Comments »

I happen to be a huge fan of both the Post Apocalyptic genre, as well as the Zombie genre. When I saw the preview for I am Legend, I was immediately intrigued. The thing I didn’t get from the movie preview was that the rest of the world had been turned into vampires, I thought that something had just wiped out everyone, and he was the only one left. Once I heard that there were Vampires, well that made it even more appealing.

I was amazed that the book was written back in the 50’s, and that the current movie is actually the third adaptation of the story. Art and I were talking about the story, and he’s seen the other two movies. Anyway, I decided to pick up the book.

If a movie has been made for a story, I usually like to watch the movie before I read the book. This way I can enjoy both, if I don’t, then I’m generally disappointed by the movie. This rule doesn’t apply to Stephen King stories. In my experience, it’s better to see his movies, and skip the book altogether. Of course, your mileage may vary, but I’ve been burned by Stephen King too many times.

Anyway, back to "I am Legend". In the story, a plague has killed just about everyone, and those who haven’t been killed are turned into vampires. Without giving too much away, the dead become re-animated, and are some type of vampire / zombie hybrid. They aren’t terribly intelligent, want to eat human flesh, and can’t come out in the sun light. What happened to those who survive are something that I’ll let you read about on your own.

The main character seems to be the lone survivor of the plague, and the story revolves around his day to day struggles, trying to survive. He has to keep himself protected, while still maintaining the necessities of life. His biggest challenges seem to be the taunting of the vampires, dealing with the loss of his family, and the realization that he’s the only human left.

Richard Matheson, the author, tries to explain the scientific reason for the classic vampire attributes, the fear of sunlight, aversion to the cross and garlic, etc.

We get to see some of what life was like before the plague, and the events leading up to that point are alluded to. I don’t want to give it away, but they do seem interesting, and I would have liked to read more about that "world".

The main story is about 170 pages, and then the rest of the book is short stories. Some of them are interesting, and some of them aren’t very good.

All in all, this was a great story, and I’m really glad I read it. It helped to get me back into reading for enjoyment.

Posted in Zombies, Vampires, fiction, Books 9 Comments »

The purpose of Command of the Grill week is to promote the book “Command of the Grill”, whose proceeds benefit charities that support Marines. I’m not making any money off of this, and anything made from traffic during the month of November will be donated to Toys for Tots. You can read more here, or follow this link to purchase your own copy. This is a really easy way to support our troops. Semper Fi!

Sorry for the delay in posting this recipe, but some family emergencies came up, and I just didn’t get to this recipe in time. Without any more of a delay, I present to you, Steak Satays.

These are about the ultimate in marinated meat. Although the recipe wants the meat to marinates for a mere 20 to 30 minutes, I’m a big fan of extra marinating time, so ours were in there for about 3 or 4 hours. Since the meat is cut oh so thin, that marinade just soaks right in there.

The meat is originally a flank steak, and is cut into thin strips at a 45 degree angle, then placed on skewers. The skewers are put into a dish with the marinade.

The marinade itself is made up of soy sauce, rice vinegar, olive oil, lemon juice, and other ingredients.

Cooking is quick, about 3 to 5 minutes with one turn.

This is another recipe that is going to go on my list of favorites. The only thing I am going to change is that I’ll buy two flank steaks instead of just one.

For this recipe, we have Major Kevin McCoullough to thank. He was the second runner up at the MCB Hawaii competition. Thank you sir, may I have another!

Posted in Grilling, Semper Fi, Command of the Grill, Charity, Books, barbecue 5 Comments »

The purpose of Command of the Grill week is to promote the book “Command of the Grill”, whose proceeds benefit charities that support Marines. I’m not making any money off of this, and anything made from traffic during the month of November will be donated to Toys for Tots. You can read more here, or follow this link to purchase your own copy. This is a really easy way to support our troops. Semper Fi!

This particular recipe is one of the “Celebrity Recipes” that gets featured for each competition. Dan Lauria, who has been in a long list of shows and movies, but I still remember best as the dad from The Wonder Years, submitted this recipe.

We usually don’t eat flank or skirt steak by itself, instead the family favorite is to use it in Fajitas. There are few things that smell as aromatic on the grill as the Anaheim peppers roasting in preparation to be peeled.

With this particular recipe, the steak marinades for 2 to 4 hours in a mix of fresh parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, and some other ingredients.

I’ve never thought that parsley had a taste of it’s own, because I’ve only tasted  dried parsley from a spice jar. Fresh parsley is a totally different animal though, and has a really fresh flavor.

After leaving the marinade, the steak gets dropped in some searing heat on the grill for about 10 minutes, turning once, and then gets pulled off.

The recipe also calls for some Lemon Garlic butter which is made by mixing  softened butter with chopped fresh parsley, lemon zest, and other ingredients. The butter gets smeared on the still hot steak while you let it stand.

If you haven’t cooked flank or skirt steak before, it’s important to cut the steak against the grain, or you’ll be chewing it forever. In the picture you can make out the direction of the grain in the meat, it is pretty easily seen on the surface.

Now, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea, this recipe was pretty darn tasty, it just didn’t knock my socks off like all the other recipes have so far. The butter, although good, just didn’t have any kick or seasoning to it, and that’s what the steak really needed.

Posted in Grilling, Semper Fi, Command of the Grill, Charity, Books, barbecue No Comments »

The purpose of Command of the Grill week is to promote the book “Command of the Grill”, whose proceeds benefit charities that support Marines. I’m not making any money off of this, and anything made from traffic during the month of November will be donated to Toys for Tots. You can read more here, or follow this link to purchase your own copy. This is a really easy way to support our troops. Semper Fi!

Combat Steaks is going to be another favorite, because it’s the second recipe I’ve done which is available for free on Weber’s Command of the grill site.

I hate to say the same thing over and over, but man, is this a tasty steak! The stuff on top of it is portabello mushrooms, which were cooked with garlic, butter and red wine. They really add to the flavor of the steak.

This recipe took first place at MCB Camp Pendleton. Colonel Stewart Navarre came up with the recipe, and it is just outstanding!

Posted in Grilling, Semper Fi, Command of the Grill, Charity, Books, barbecue No Comments »