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Unless you’re completely unplugged from television, cable and internet, you probably already know that the 82nd Academy Awards (better known as The Oscars) are this weekend.  And if you follow the movie industry at all, you know that this years easy favorite is the super-duper, mega blockbuster hit Avatar.  The movie has grossed over $2.5 BILLION worldwide, passing Titanic to take the #1 spot on the all-time list.  I think its safe to say that director James Cameron will have an acceptance speech prepared.

In honor of Avatar, and sticking with the whole blue theme, I give to you this recipe for Wild Blueberry Pie with Almond Crumble Topping (courtesy of epicurious.com).  Actually, I think I’m going to rename it Avatar Pie.  Mmmmmm.  Try making it and then having a few friends over for your own little Academy Awards party.  Enjoy!

Wild Blueberry Pie with Almond Crumble Topping

Ingredients

• 1 Best-Ever Pie Crust dough disks

Filling

• 3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (or more) sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 7 cups fresh wild or regular blueberries (32 ounces) or 32 ounces frozen wild or regular blueberries (do not thaw)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Topping

• 2/3 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 4 ounces marzipan or almond paste, broken into 1/3-inch pieces (about 3/4 cup loosely packed)
• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Whipped cream or ice cream

Could you use $10,000?  Can you remain calm, cool and collected while watching the most frightening movie scenes?  Then you might want to hop on flight to India and search out renowned Bollywood movie director Ram Gopal Varma.  Apparently he’s convinced that his latest thriller, Phoonk 2, is so scary that he’s willing to pay 500,000 rupees – roughly equal to $10,000 – to anyone who can watch the movie without getting their pants scared off.  Here’s the catch – you have to watch the movie in a theatre by yourself while wired up to a heart monitoring machine.

This is the second time Varma has tried this PR stunt.  He issued the same challenge when the original Phoonk film opened in 2008.  It seems, however, that there may have been some funny business going on with the selection process so the contest was cancelled.

I don’t know about you, but I’d take the challenge in a heartbeat!  I’ve never seen Phoonk, but how scary can it possible be?  The two scariest movies I’ve ever watched are The Exorcist and The Blair Witch Project (the end scene in that one still gets me).  What do you think?  Would you take the challenge?  What are your favorite scary movies?

In a last ditch effort to get a “beach body” before I contract a case of beer-bellyitis (yeah, I made that up), I’ve started hitting the gym regularly.  Most of the time I end up going in the evening after work.  But I’ve found thats a tough time.  There are a lot of days when I’m just too exhausted.

For the longest time, a friend of mine who is a personal trainer has been selling me on the idea of morning workouts.   So a couple weeks ago I finally decided to give it a try.  After a few early morning battles with my snooze button I think I’m finally in the groove.  I must admit that I’m glad I did.  Already, I’ve realized that there are some added benefits to hitting the gym in the morning.  Here are my top three…

1. Exercise increases mental alertness. By working out in the morning, you’ll wake up faster and be mentally focused on your day ahead before most people take their first sip of Starbucks.
2. Working out in the morning will help boost your metabolism.  This is a great benefit if you’re trying to burn off a few extra pounds.
3. By working out in the morning, you don’t have time to come up with any excuses not to do it.  Like I said before, sometimes after work when you’re tired, you’re just too drained to hit the gym.  NO EXCUSEs in the morning!

If anyone has any morning workout tips or advice, feel free to drop me a comment and share.  Every little bit of motivation helps!

Fat Tuesday is the celebration of Mardi Gras and one of the best parts about the day is the delicious treats. Maybe that is one of the reasons it is called Fat Tuesday? Hmm…Well regardless, they are delicious.

If you have never tried the Jambalaya fettucini I would recommend it. I’m not a wiz in the kitchen, but with the right people around you this can turn out pretty tasty.

I made it with a group of friends, some more focused in the kitchen than others, and everyone enjoyed it.

Do you have a Mardi Gras recipe to share? What are you going to do today?

Tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET you can watch the opening ceremonies live from Vancouver. The Winter Olympics brings the finest athletes from around the world to Vancouver to compete in a wide range of sports including skiing, skating and bobsledding. What’s your favorite sport?

A complete Winter Olympic schedule of events can be found online.

Well, if there’s one place you can’t run and hide it’s the Internet. When Memphis Coach Josh Pastner announced earlier this week that senior Pierre Henderson-Nile was leaving the team with just eight games left in his college career several people were scratching their heads; especially when it came out of the blue and with no explanation.

It seems though that Henderson-Nile gave us clues on his twitter account that things weren’t all sunshine and roses.

Things weren’t going well for him and the Memphis Tigers program and I feel bad that he isn’t finishing out his senior year on the court. He’s made his decision though and the coaches have to respect that. What do you think?

Memphis is 17-7 and their next game is on Saturday, Feb. 13 against Tulsa at 7 p.m. ET.

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