This was one of my made-from-scratch lasagnas (which I haven’t done for over a year at this point) and it turned out among the best I’ve ever made it, but I’m still tweaking it as I want it more saucy.
Here’s how it goes:
- heat up a swig of olive oil in one frying pan add 1/2 cooking onion, diced, and 2 cloves garlic, minced, fry ’til soft and slightly golde. Add 1 can of diced tomatoes (half drained of liquid), 1/3 diced red pepper, dash of thyme, and salt/pepper to taste. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes, after which add one can tomato paste to thicken.
- in a second fry pan, add the ground veal, a slight sprinkling of cumin (not too much) and some oregano. Fry till cooked, drain the excess fat. Add to fry pan #1
- at some point during all this bring a pot of water to boil, add 6 lasagna noodles, cook for about 10 minutes, then remove from heat and let stand.
- preheat oven to 375
- grate a mix of mozzarella and monterey jack cheeses, about 1/2 brick (300g) and 1/3 brick (200g) respectively
- take a 500ml container of cottage cheese and mix in one egg
- in your casserole dish, spread a thin layer of the meat sauce on the bottom, lay down three noodles. Add 1/2 the grated cheese, 1/2 the meat sauce and 1/2 the cottage cheese, in that order.
Top with three more noodles.
Add a bit of the grated cheese, then the remainder of the cottage cheese, then the meat sauce, then the rest of the grated cheese. Top with a sprinkle of parmesean.
Place in oven for 35-40 minutes. Remove and let stand for 5 - 10 minutes.
I noticed while searching for images for these posts that 
Anyway, disc 2, TV Themes. Viva le Fromage.
I don’t think Kobra has ever properly found himself/themselves in the super-villain limelight, despite having a (short-lived) series in the 1970’s. Since then, the guy and the organization has been relegated to third-tier status, yet another cult amongst Brother Blood, HIVE and others in the DCU, acting as foil to whomever requires one at the moment. As an international terror organization, much like its G.I. Joe counterparts, Kobra has been kind of a joke, and its leader the Aquaman of bad guys. But with one quick issue in DC’s ill-conceived “Faces of Evil” month, from a writer few have ever heard of in the comics scene, Kobra has just poised itself as a very convincing threat to even the mightiest of superheroes. Writer Ivan Brandon has, in 22 pages, manufactured the cult of Kali-Yuga into a damn scary terrorist organization, bent on little more than religious zealotry and anarchy, with perhaps global domination in mind. With an unassuming, even dismissible arrival on the stands, this is a phenomenal book and, of the meager few I’ve read, the first truly suitable book for the “Faces of Evil” tag. By the end of it’s brief story, with some chilling visuals from Julian Lopez, I felt remorse that there was no longer a Checkmate book in place for this creative team to explore what Brandon introduced (a logical successor for Greg Rucka were there one), but at the same time, I’m curious to see where he winds up at DC and if he gets to continue this story.
Bullets and Bracelets - it’s interesting to see the creative talents involved in this project. Few, at the time, were superstars, although names like Mark Waid, Chuck Dixon and, here, John Ostrander were, and remain, solid talent in the industry. But, some, and Ostrander especially, completely jobs it here, just lazy, cliched writing, perhaps striving for a 70’s comic vibe with overt melodrama and cornball hero/villain encounters. He doesn’t even strive very hard at the “amalgam” part, using “Princess Diana” (the “bracelets”) in pretty much an unchanged form (well aside from sporting the horrific workout outfit that replaced the traditional Wonder Woman garb for a couple years) and the Punisher (the “bullets”) is supposed to be Steve Trevor mixed with Frank Castle (as “Trevor Castle”), but is essentially the Punisher with blonde hair and a soft spot for brunettes. Though estranged, they have a child together who has been abducted, at first they think by the Monarch/War Machine cross, but then they’re boom tubed to Apokalypse where they meet up with their old friend Big Titania, and duel with the Female Furies (unchanged from their DC incarnations) before meeting the big bad, Thanoseid. It’s all very silly, especially when they find out that Kanto, all grown up and a master assassin, is their son (*spoiler*). Guh, brain numb. Nice art from Gary Frank though.
Bruce Wayne: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. - Chuck Dixon brings in the most entertaining and probably the least cheesiest sense of amalgamation out of any of the dozen books. Here, Bruce Wayne is Bruce Wayne (no amalgam) but instead of being Batman he’s a super-spy. He works for Nick Fury and Seargeant Rock (both unchanged), who head up S.H.I.E.L.D. and he’s totally in love with Huntress #1 (Barbara something, likely a mix of Batgirl and Black Widow) and has mentored a couple of young heroes wearing the Moonwing (Moon Knightwing?) garb. They take on the Green Skull (Lex Luthor and the Red Skull mixed) but he’s killed by his own daughter Selina (#2) Luthor who takes over Hydra. At the end the whole place goes Kablam-o in an actually suspenseful cliffhanger. It’s outrageous Steranko-style super-spy mayham, illustrated by a then young Cary Nord, and my favourite of the lot, hell… I was even jonesing for a second issue when it was done.
Legends of the Dark Claw - Amalgam universe’s Bruce Wayne #2, merged with, obviously, Wolverine, in what you’d think was a cool costume/persona if you were, perhaps 12, but as an adult it’s more than just illogical, it’s mind numbingly bad (see poem up top). I’ve always been suspect of Larry Hama’s non-G.I. Joe writing talent and here it’s just as bad as anything of his I’ve read, add the Amalgam conceit on top and you want to get a drill and go trepanning until all the demons are let out of your skull. Hama introduces a second Huntress here (Carol Danvers) which further proves that nobody was really paying attention when all these comics were made. It’s twelve books people, surely you could have come up with something more cohesive…? The “Hyena”, a cross between, I dunno, Sabretooth and the Joker, is one of the worst creations of the Amalgam universe (frankly, I think the Joker should be the Joker no matter where he is, his insanity keeping him unique, but then that’s kinda clever, which few of the Amalgam books are).
Amazon - the most uninspired mix of Storm and Wonder Woman (Donna Troy) yields the dullest of all stories. Flying around high in the sky, Wonder Woman squares off against the god Poseidon, who contests her weather controlling skills against his ocean controlling skills. That lasts for a couple panels and then there’s page after page of background storytelling and Ororo teaching Poseidon a lesson that humbles him. It’s all talk, no action.
I bought Wintersleep’s Welcome to the Night Sky back in 2007 after becoming a fast fan of the song “Weighty Ghost” when it was charting on the CBC R3-30 (back when I was listening to the R3-30 podcast that is, which I think I last did in March ‘08). The thing about buying an album after only listening to one song (and that same song repeatedly) you build up unrealistic expectations about the album it comes from. Invariably few other songs, if any, on the album will be similar to the one you’ve been listening to, and, at first anyway, few other songs will attract your attention as much. WttNS was just that, and “Weighty Ghost” was such a different song compared to the rest: uptempo, jovial even, compared to the three tracks that precede it - the brooding opener (with an immediate bass hook) “Hooked on Aluminium”[sic], the deep, driving “Archaeologist” and the dirge “Dead Letter”. 
Now, I’ve read each issue of Final Crisis numerous times, with each issue I generally read two or three times and then turning back to the previous issues to start piecing the picture together, so I guess you could say I’ve gotten pretty familiar with everything that’s happened up ’til now. But in this latest rereading, having the conclusion before me, all the lights were turned on for the very first time, and I could see what each moment meant in issues 1 - 6, and how they connect and play together. Yes, each issue of Final Crisis did read like a series of disparate, relatively unconnected vignettes, nary a logical storyline to be had, only late in the game did it seem like the masterplan was coming together. 
I wouldn’t exactly call Corky and the Juice Pigs legendary, but they certainly were an amazing musical sketch comedy trio that, considering their ingeniousness, is sorely underrepresented in the audio/video department. Their handful of appearances on MadTV, their CBC SketchCom! performance and their two albums (this their second) is about all that remains after a decade long career together.
X-Patrol - oh good god, my eyes bleed. Seriously, this is awful art, bad storytelling, horrendous characters (in design and in personality), it’s representative of the worst the ’90’s have to offer from both sides of the DC/Marvel divide. Princess Shatterstarfire, a combination of Starfire and Shatterstar, is absolutely the most annoying character I thing I’ve ever read, to the point where it, not the art, was enough to turn me away. Well, the Doctor Doomsday character was pretty gawdawful as well, as were Dr. Niles Cable and Beastling, Elasti-Girl and Ferro Man. Right, there’s nothing, at all, redeemable about this book. Let’s move on…
Assassins - This one was a curious story, a Die Hard/Vertical Run-esque sealed-in-a-tower plot that pits two hired killers against the Kingpin/Riddler amalgam and his hundreds of henchmen. The assassins: Catsai, a cross between Catwoman and Elektra and Dare, an even more curious cross between Daredevil and Deathstroke… but a woman (why? Why not?). This one wasn’t even very well piped into the rest of the Amalgam universe as Jimmy Olson (who appeared in Super Soldier as an old man) is here merged with reporter Ben Urich and there’s a reference to J. Jonah White, even though J. Jonah Jameson appears in Spider-Boy. This one wasn’t too bad a read, with it’s focus on crazy action, but I kept wondering why a blind woman would need just one eyepatch. Makes no sense at all. And the whole thing with the horns, it took me about 5 minutes to figure out they were attached to her head. Oh, and there was a second Cable amalgam here (with Manhunter, the first being with Niles Caulder in X-Patrol) so at this point I’m sensing Amalgamations weren’t tightly controlled in this comics line.
Magneto and the Magnetic Men - this one was another weak contender, with the biggest problem being I couldn’t figure out who the Magnetic Men were supposed to be. I eventually caught on that they were (obviously) the Metal Men merged with Magneto’s deceased Brotherhood (and I couldn’t tell if the Brotherhood were supposed to be merged characters beyond that). Anyway, the story was a typical Magneto story about saving mutants, and had some of the robo-melodrama from the Metal Men, but none of the crazy, out-there wackiness (probably because the Metal Men will never be as popular as Magneto). 
Speed Demon - an even further bizzare mixture, putting Barry Allen and Johnny Blaze together as one identity, and the triple threat of Ghost Rider, Flash and Etrigan the Demon together in another. They were then pitted against an amalgam of Nightmare and the Spectre (with their secret ID being Jay Garrick), which didn’t work very well logically as a combo, and despite being highly convoluted (as Wally West shows up in another Ghost Rider guise) and a curious Hal Jordan appearance, it’s actually fairly entertaining (more Ghost Rider/Demon influence than Flash).
This is the time of year people hit the “culture” films in response to the Oscar buzz, and I can’t say that I’m exempt. Of course, many of the films that receive commendation I saw (or intended to see) in advance of any awards being won, but there’s still an attraction that the Oscars create. While I did always intend to see Frost/Nixon, it might have become one of those films on the “meant to but never did see” list, primarily because of it’s director.