I had a great weekend, the first real weekend I've had in a while since my life has been one non-stop weekend for the last few months. Friday night I hung out with Jon, Grace, Justin & Chris. Saturday I slept in and then went to Downtown Disney for my friend Jeff's birthday. We ate at ESPN Zone and then we watched The Simpsons Movie, which was hilarious. Sunday I went down to Comic-Con to hang out with my cousin and some of my other friends. Since there weren't any panels we wanted to see, we walked around the show floor most of the time. I saw Rosario Dawson and got my picture taken with Ernie Hudson, better known as Winston from Ghostbusters. Speaking of Comic-Con, here's a video of Kevin Smith's Heroes announcement:

It was a busy weekend and it was rough going at work this morning because I was so tired, but it was worth it. The job is going well. It's pretty mundane work, but I dig it.

Here I am on another Monday, and it feels like I've accomplished quite a bit this weekend, despite how the weekend began: I spent my whole short Friday laying around on my couch while waiting for the gas company to show up, which they never did. They suck. I guess it's okay, because I got a much-needed nap and read some Harry Potter. In the evening, Ric and I ate out and went over to the old apartment to carry out some more of our stuff and do some fine cleaning.

Saturday, the piano movers were supposed to call between 8-8:30 to give me a 2 hour window in which they would arrive to move the piano. I wasn't about to get up and wait for their call, so when 9:10 rolled around, I managed to get out of bed just as the phone rang and they said the driver was at the old apartment. I wasn't. So I had to motor to get myself dressed and over to the old place in 20 minutes, and then oversaw the miraculous spectacle of one small man moving my piano all by himself. I'm glad I didn't have a heart attack.

After that I did more reading and Ric and I decided to hit up a matinee, since we were both up early for once. Lo and behold, we walked out our door to find that the new landlord was mowing our lawn. He saw our new toy (electric lawnmower) in the garage and couldn't resist. Either that or he thought we weren't going to do it ourselves. I'm not quite sure. We were pleased to realize how quiet it was since we hadn't noticed it, but poor Ric was a little disappointed that he didn't get to break in the machine first. Anyway, we also got some weatherstripping on the front door (too many beetles invading, although Pip is a mighty hunter) and the door latch of the bedroom fixed (so we can kick Pip out in the middle of the night when he decides that playing with our feet is a good idea).

We went out to see Sunshine, which I liked more than Ric, but both of us were disappointed overall. In the afternoon Ric napped while I kept on reading, and we went over to the old apartment for more cleaning. In the evening we went out to see Knocked Up at the dollar theater (which is now $2) and had a late-night run to Wendy's since we hadn't eaten much all day.

Sunday we went to church with the Andersons, and all of us went out to lunch afterwards. In the afternoon we were very lazy, and I finally finished the Harry Potter series. We spent some time organizing stuff in the house and went out to eat and shop for groceries. I watched most of Hannah and Her Sisters, but stopped to watch some Lost with Ric.

Tonight, we take out a light fixture and a bookshelf from the old place - the only stuff left - and hand over the keys to old George. And that will be that, and we will finally be done with Shana Manor. It's a shame, really. The apartments were perfect for us when we first got married. The community was great, the price was even better, and we didn't seem to mind that it was old and hot. After four years of marriage, a $400+ price hike, and the infestation of disrespectful neighbors, we're looking around thinking "Why the heck didn't we get out of here sooner?!" The place has always been old and no matter how much we cleaned it never got fully clean. It was like a catalyst for dust, silverfish, grease, clogged drains, and runny toilets. The new place is such a breath of fresh air for us (not literally, because all of the dust of moving is giving me allergies, which I hope will settle soon). We hardly ever hear anything on the street, the neighbors are friendly (left us a note to let us know when the trash and street cleaning days were) or keep to themselves (even better), and we're really enjoying the responsibilities and fun of caring for a home. We still have a lot to accomplish before we're settled in, but it's coming along. And once we finally have some curtains and a living room without boxes, I'll take some photos.

The rest of the week is up in the air. I want to go check out Rescue Dawn tomorrow night if anyone wants to come along. Wednesday I'm kicking it with Ric, since the Femmes tickets are too much, and Thursday I'm going to another night at the Fox - the Wizard of Oz is playing this time. Hope you all have a great week!

When I went to see Ratatouille in the theaters several weeks back (easily the best movie of the summer), I saw the trailer for the next Pixar film: Wall-E. It sounded interesting, but it's hard to tell what it's really about.

The blog Cooked Art has a few more details now, including the story:

What if humans left earth and forgot to turn the last robot off?

and concept:

Ben Burtt (the legendary sound designer) then went on to talk about how there is no dialogue in the film in a normal sense, showing a great featurette using pastels and digital paintings and sound to evoke the moods that would be felt while watching Wall-E.

A feature-length animated film with no dialogue? The idea is bold, original, and intriguing: in short, just what you'd expect from Pixar.

I can't wait.

(By the way, I'm sorry for the long periods of silence on this blog. This summer I've been doing a little traveling, spending some quality time with the family, and, in the last few days, reading the final Harry Potter book (I finished yesterday). Once the regular school year schedule resumes I hope to write more)

Both of these are Stephanie's:

"I don't want you to die, whether or not you have a life insurance policy."

"On my tombstone I want it to say, 'You done me wrong!'"

Lots of news is coming out of Comic-Con, which is happening this weekend in San Diego. Karen Allen is officially in Indy IV. The cast for Watchmen was officially announced. Lots of other stuff going on. So far the announcement that got me the most excited is that Kevin Smith is going to write and direct an episode of Heroes: Origins which will air while Heroes is on a brief mid-season hiatus. Since I don't have TV at home, I ended up watching the entire first season on NBC.com a couple weeks ago. It's an incredible show. Definitely my favorite new show. Now that Kevin is involved, it's even better. Kevin himself is a big Heroes fan and definitely will respect the material. Kevin is going to be involved in a few other TV projects in the near future. He directed the pilot episode of the upcoming CW show "Reaper" which is getting great reviews. He told me might be directing future episodes but it's still up in the air. Fall can't come soon enough!

Check it out. I have heard it's also in front of The Simpsons Movie, which I haven't gotten a chance to see yet because I have a pretty packed schedule this weekend. No footage yet, but we do hear The Joker. I'm getting pretty excited about this one.

Today is our pal Dave's birthday. While we miss him out here in Cali, it sounds like he is living the sweet life in Chi-town. Happy birthday, man!

As far as zombie movies go, 28 Days Later was one of the smarter ones I have seen (not counting humorous ones), so I was definitely interested in checking out 28 Weeks Later, which picks up exactly when it sounds like it should... only this time we're following a completely new set of people.

In this case, dad has been surviving zombie attacks for the past month while his kids were off on a school trip, and the three are reunited in the only residential zone in England, which is being organized by the U.S. Military. The kids are the youngest people in the country, and quickly prove that the people in charge should have made the age requirement 21 and up, because nothing but trouble happens when they unknowingly revive the formerly contained Rage virus.

This movie definitely has its weaknesses. The first of these is the camera work and editing. The combination of the two provides such a shaky, confusing effect that, while I can feel the franticness of the moment, I also can't tell what's going on. In one scene, it took me quite a few seconds to understand that one person had gone from being outside to being inside and attacking several people. I thought that was what had happened, but wasn't sure for quite some time. Think The Bourne Supremacy, then multiply by about three times the jolt. The story also relied on some extreme coincidences, much like those in Spider-Man 3. A lot of people happen to be at the right place, at the right time, and the physical and emotional reacitons of some of the characters didn't seem natural to me. And, one last weakness: Harold Perrineau, whose role as Michael on Lost has forever made me dislike him.

But still, the movie was effective. Deserted streets of England, sudden zombie attacks, the threat of the military who was sent to help them wanting to shut down spread of the virus by any means necessary, and the simple relationships between the characters all worked.

The use of kids wasn't irritating. In fact, I liked Imogen Poots (nice name!) as the daughter a lot, and Macintosh Muggleton (even better!) did a very capable job as well.

Not much to say otherwise. I'm glad I only paid a buck for it, and I'm glad I saw it too.

This is my first try, but I might tweak a few things and make some more. It looks more like me than my Mii.

Simpsonize yourself HERE!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling

In The Know: Is Our Wealth Hurting Africa�s Feelings?

I heart The Onion

Plain View #74 - July 19, 2007

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Everything is Illuminated

Quarantine

Abilene

Pedal Pull

Minnesota

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I love my Netflix service. I'm not one for going to the store... EVER to get a movie, so Netflix is definitely for me rather than Blockbuster. Today they sent me an email to let me know they've lowered the price for my plan. Sweet!!

Also, I'm not sure how long this feature has existed on Netflix, but I just found out today that Netflixers can watch movies on their PCs for free. For each dollar you pay for Netflix, you're given an hour of credit for watching movies that month. The viewer is incredibly easy to install and a decent-sized screen too. There are loads of options of movies to watch, and all free! I know how I'll be spending my lunches!

A couple of weeks back I joined up with Brendan, the Hutchinses, and Angela in the parking lot behind the Fox Theatre. It was another of their Movies at the Fox events, and the movie was Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I don't think any of us had actually seen the movie all the way through, so it was a treat for us. I was a little bit ticked off when the host of the event (they need to hire a professional emcee, by the way) kind of spilled the beans about the ending. But since the movie was thirty years old, I really don't think I have the right to complain too much.

I'm guessing most of you have already seen it, but as a quick recap, a few people are deeply affected when they witness the flight of some UFOs. They have an image in their head of an odd-looking mountain and are obsessed with it. Their journey seems destined to lead them there.

Richard Dreyfuss stars as a man whose obsession grows increasingly difficult for his family to live with. I really liked that aspect of his story. The thing I didn't like involves a spoiler: he's a jerk (in general) and he deserts his family to go fly away with the aliens. Dreyfuss usually gets on my nerves as an actor, but here he actually becomes his character, and even though the character himself isn't necessarily likable, he does a good job at making us understand the man and sympathize with his quest.

The movie is very suspenseful and mysterious, and does a great job of letting the action almost seem normal or ordinary in scenes that don't feature UFOs. I also loved how the tidbit of musical tones sent from the UFOs is woven into the score slowly, rather than hitting us over the head from the get-go. It was pretty funny, though, to see how all of us walked to our cars singing the music because it does get repetitive (in a good way) toward the movie's end.

Also cool was the Fox Foundation's choice of cartoon for the evening, which was Duck Dodgers in the 24th Century, which is what one of the kids is watching on tv in the movie. Nice tie-in!

I had a great time hanging out for the little while we had, and seeing a movie I hadn't seen that was on my list of movies I need to catch up with.

Pinch Hitter 2 is my latest addiction, thanks to my pal Jesse from the VA Board. It plays almost exactly the same as the original Pinch Hitter but now there are multiple levels and achievements to unlock. I'm stuck on achievement 9, the first of the Major League achievements.

Woo hoo! As of tomorrow, I'll be a temporary employee for Yamaha, working on their new e-commerce site. It's only 6 weeks, but the pay is awesome and it will be great experience. Thanks again to everyone for your support these last couple months. It's been rough going, but thanks to you guys and a lot of perseverance, things are on the up and up.

Like I said, I have a lot of vacation time with not a lot of stuff to go out and do, so I took off work to catch the first morning showing of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. 8am morning shows are an awesome option, by the way! It's too early for the kids to be there, and I didn't have to line up around a block and be sleepy for a midnight showing. I stood in line for a short while because the theater itself wasn't open yet, but that line wasn't very big. The theater was full, but not completely packed. In other words, I'd like to practice some divination of my own and say that I foresee myself taking more time off work to see opening-day movies in the future.

This movie follows along with Harry after (in the Goblet of Fire) Lord Voldemort has returned and killed from oblivion and one of the contestants in the Triwizard Tournament and failed to kill Harry in the process. The Ministry of Magic does not want the wizarding world to believe that Voldemort is back, so they use influence with the newspapers to skew the story so that Harry and Dumbledore are looking a bit crazy. The Ministry also inserts Dolores Umbridge as High Inquisitor at Hogwarts, where she quickly finds ways to prevent students from using defensive spells. As a result, Harry and his friends decide to form a group that will practice defensive magic in secret, in preparation for battle with Voldemort and his Death Eaters. s wa

I thought the adaptation was really good. There are a few changes in the plot, which for the most part I approved of, because they didn't affect the spirit of the story or its characters. The only thing it lacked was a more satisfying final battle sequence; Potter fans were looking forward to seeing the various rooms and challenges Harry and his friends faced at the Ministry of Magic, but instead got a quick glimpse of the Order fighting the Death Eaters and a fight between Dumbledore and Voldemort. While it was exciting, it was certainly short and felt a bit rushed, and I was disappointed that we didn't get to see more from that sequence (and while we're at it, a little more from the Weasly Brothers, whose antics I really wanted to see more of!). One last thing regarding the ending would be that I'm not sure the point was made clearly about the significance of the prophecy (or who made it).

The music, acting, directing, and general flow of story were all much improved. I thought there was a great balance between showing us how much darker things are getting with the story while still lightening the mood with jokes, visual humor, and the cool things that magic can do. Casting, as always, was spectacular. The addition of Imelda Staunton as Dolores Umbridge and Evanna Lynch as Luna Lovegood to the cast were both strokes of genius. I wasn't even sure what I thought of Luna when I read the book, but Lynch made me like her a lot. Oh my goodness, Umbridge's office was awesome!

Although one could argue that this could have been called Harry Potter and Dumbledore's Army, since the Order of the Phoenix were given very little screen time (besides Sirius), I didn't mind. Even though I've listed a few things here that I was disappointed to miss out on, this is probably the Harry Potter movie I have the least complaints about (although I admit that this time around, I didn't read the book for review, which could make a difference - but I did go online to fact check and found that I still thought the choices made were good ones).

I'm very pleased with this installment in the series and look forward to David Yates resuming the helm as director for the Half Blood Prince movie. Great job!

"another heart-retching event"

Hmm. That's kind of a gross image, isn't it?

I did take a couple breaks from reading this weekend. On Saturday night, Jeri and I went to the Grove to see Erasure. My friend Greg hooked us up with free passes and we were right up front. It was a great show. They played a ton of songs both new and old. Vince was rocking the MacBook Pro and a small synth while Andy was accompanied by three backup singers. It was a great time.

Sunday afternoon I went to a screening of The Monster Squad at the Aero in Santa Monica. I hadn't seen the movie since it was in theaters back in '87 and didn't remember it to well. It's basically about these kids who have to fight off Dracula and his minions. It's a really fun movie and I'm glad it's finally coming to DVD. The director, some of the cast, and some of the special effects guys were there and did a Q&A afterwards. It was great. Also, for those wondering about the Aero, it's where they filmed the Evil Dead screening scene in Donnie Darko. That alone made it worth checking out the theater.

Between that stuff and reading I was pretty well occupied this weekend. I have another big job interview tomorrow for a temp position at Yamaha doing some work on their website. It sounds like a perfect fit for me. The pay is great and it is right up the street from here, so it would be great. Hope you all had a good weekend out there in blog land.

I finished Harry Potter last night. It was fantastic. I put the book down a couple times to do some other stuff, but read the last 400 pages or so straight through. Great read. I'll definitely miss having a new book to look forward to, but it's also nice to have closure. Read more for a few spoilers.

Read more »

Hey there! The weekend is through and we are mostly moved!

Friday afternoon I threw responsibility to the wind. I went to lunch with a bunch of the ladies to celebrate Ruth's birthday. We had a great time at Cafe Veronese with a beautiful lunch in the garden. Afterwards, I went shopping with my sister and got a sweet pair of Pumas at the Nordstrom anniversary sale. I'm so glad I did, because they helped me get through the rest of the weekend comfortably. That night, Ric and I took over a couple more loads and finished painting the bedroom. I say finished, but really, we have to go do some touch-ups soon. We got Colin to promise to help us out on Saturday, which was a big relief since we scheduled the big stuff move pretty last-minute.

Saturday morning rolled around and we got up early to go pick up the truck. No problems there. We had a quick breakfast and started loading up. It took a long time to accomplish this because a) most of our load had to be brought from upstairs to downstairs, and b) everything had to be taken out the door, through the carports, down the driveway, and down the street a bit to the truck. Multiply by 12, and it gets tedious and hot, and a truck filled with a bed frame, mattress, and four bookshelves. That was our first load, which was simple to unload once we got it to the new place. Then, when Colin and Liz showed up, the boys went back for the couches, dresser, and another bookcase while I started unpacking the kitchen. (Emily enjoyed the sink for a while.) It's amazing how fast it is to take everything OUT of boxes and find a place for them. The cable guy also came and discovered that there was no wiring leading to the house, so he had to bring it in from outside down under the house and through the crawl space underneath the house. He was there for about 4-5 hours. We wanted dinner with the Andersons, but since this took so long, we ended up with a reincheck and ordered pizza delivery for ourselves. The cable guy finished just in time for me to head out to meet Brendan at the Grove, where we saw Erasure in concert, for free! Let me tell you, for two guys and a Mac, they put on a pretty entertaining show. I came home and tried to sleep, which didn't go so well since it was Pip's first night in the new place and he cried in our bedroom the entire night.

Sunday we didn't go to church. We went to Ric's parents' place to do some laundry, then went to the old place to sell our fridge to some guys, packed up more stuff, ate dinner at Ric's parents', went to Target to buy some necessities, and came home to do more settling in. My kitchen is pretty much finished. I need to buy a lazy susan, since the one I use for spices was old and didn't last through the move. Let me just say, it's a kitchen with a lot of storage! I'm so glad not to have everything so crammed. Wendy, that giant lazy susan in the corner cabinet is amazing! The bathrooms are filled up, but I still need to buy some odds and ends for them, like a shower curtain, and maybe another curtain for the windows. I'm paranoid about privacy. We also need to buy curtains for the bedrooms and kitchen, so I've got a lot to get done. The bedroom is looking pretty nice, though, if I do say so myself. When I'm all done I'll post some photos.

Meanwhile, we have to get the final bits and pieces out of our old place and get it cleaned. If there's one thing I learned from this move, it's that I need to keep better house. I'm going to try and make a schedule for myself at the new place so that I will clean things on a more regular basis. Anyway, the piano will be the last piece to get moved, which will happen on Saturday. It's a two-week process, which sounds funny, but it's been just right for our busy schedules. I can't imagine having to do all of this over just one weekend!

And, on top of all of that - CONGRATULATIONS to Becky and her husband Greg! She's officially a mother to baby Zoe, born on Sunday. I can't wait to hear the whole story and eventually meet your baby girl!

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J. K. Rowling

The Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare

I finished the Harry Potter series just now. Thus, I win.

I bought the new Harry Potter book as soon as I got done working. I paid half the cover price and didn't have to wait in line forever.

I LOVE YOU WAL-MART!!!!!!!!!

If there's anyone strong who can help lift a few of our heavier items (couches, bookcases, etc.) tomorrow, give us a ring. We've got the truck scheduled for the day.

Tuesday night Jon and I went to a really cool art show that Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier are putting on called Crazy 4 Cult. It's at Gallery Nineteen Eighty Eight in Los Angeles until August 10th, so check it out if you are in the area. All the art is inspired by cult films and is pretty darn awesome. The opening reception was a lot of fun. I got to meet Richard Kelly again, which was cool. After checking out the art, Jon and I spent the rest of the evening hanging out with Jen Smith and some folks from the View Askew message board. It was a good time. Here's a cool video of the paintings and the event:

I saw myself in it three times. See if you can find me. And check out the awesome paintings.

I put my shoes on to run today and I was surprised by how quickly they have become dirty. This is not veiled bragging, don’t worry. I bought the shoes a little more than a month ago when I was in St. Louis. Stephanie was spending the day with her mom, so I convinced Laura to go shoe shopping (it didn’t take much convincing).

Steph always laughs when I buy new running shoes, because it normally means simply that I no longer like my current running shoes. I make all of these promises that I will only use the shoes for running, and that I am going to really dedicate myself this time. My philosophy with running shoes is like Mitch’s philosophy with pens: “I bought a seven dollar pen because I always lose pens, and I was got sick of not caring.” So I figure if I spend more, I’ll be sure to use them more. This time it will work out, I say.

But the fact is that once I get the cool new shoes that are comfortable and don’t yet smell like dead animals, I begin wearing them everywhere, and soon enough I forget about running altogether. That’s why Stephanie laughs—because I am truly ridiculous.

This time I bought white running shoes that tend more toward the dorky end of the design spectrum, and I did well at only using them for running. About three weeks ago I was running my favorite trail at the Rose Bowl while praying and thinking about Hebrews 11 and 12—that so many have run before, and that it was my turn to run this race with perseverance. When I got back up the hill and began walking to the car, I thanked God for the ability to run and had a strange thought come into my head: You are still running; you still need perseverance. I thought perhaps I knew what it meant.

Less than three days later my baby died and I caught my wife before she fell unconscious to the floor. In the hospital we had an ultrasound that confirmed nothing was left in the womb. Our first and second ultrasounds were bookends of promise and disappointment—parentheses marking a mere interruption to a way of life that would not change, actually.

When we got home several hours later and Stephanie fell asleep, I took a quiet, warm shower. After I got dressed in fresh clothes I stood barefoot at the opening of my closet and stared at my running shoes. You are still running; you still need perseverance. So I put them on.

Stephanie asked later that day about the shoes, but I was embarrassed and didn’t give much of an answer. The next day I wore them again, and at the OB-GYN Steph again asked me about them. I was embarrassed again and nearly cried. She pulled me aside later and told me that she wasn’t trying to make fun of me, but just wanted to know. So I told her how it was to remind me that I was running a race.

I wore them exclusively for a week and on the following Monday, seven days later, renewed my summer goal of getting used to flip flops. Stephanie asked me about the shoes. I was embarrassed. I didn’t want the running shoes to become an overused and undervalued symbol of spiritual struggle, but I also worried that I was giving up the race.

From reading the book of Hebrews, I always thought that faith was founded upon the faithfulness of God, which was clearly displayed in a divine cycle of promise and fulfillment spanning generations. Matt P. (not Matt the boss), who always sat in the second row with me in our class on Hebrews in seminary, said that his impression was almost exactly the opposite. He said that Hebrews—and especially my precious chapter 11—was about faith in the absence of fulfillment. The many who have run and not received a reward are those we now follow.

I have been aware that this running I do is part choice, but choice driven by impulse. Running is just something I do. When trials come, you strap on the shoes and run. When the promises are farthest away, you run the hardest. In the absence of a fulfillment of hope, or maybe even more in the presence of a contradiction to hope, all you have left is this running.

Abraham ran without knowing where he was going and, therefore, without knowing if he was even getting anywhere. And Abraham’s children run because that’s what our father did and generations of brothers and sisters can’t be wrong. We are a people who run and struggle in the silence because a voice long ago told us to. And we have this testimony from the cloud of witnesses: We ran, we died, we did not receive the promise. Yet I find myself lacing up the running shoes to follow in their footsteps.

I must be crazy.

Plain View #73 - July 1, 2007

I'm not sure what happened to the previous episode. It seems to be gone. I found one episodes with a few minutes of dead air that was labeled 72 but seems to be a messed up version of 73. I present a cleaned up version of 73 here, but frankly, I don't have time to figure all this out. I'll keep my eye out for it. If anyone downloaded #72 and the show actually matches the notes. I'd like to have a copy of that file. Thanks.

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summer school - OVA!

visit from Maly

Ordinary People

Goodbye Studio 60

our new comedy holiday

Heroes

Mare's epiphany

Will's 102 situps

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I realize that this blog is littered with movie reviews, so here's an update on what we've been up to this week.

Monday I changed our address info in a bunch of different places and ordered cable installation. We ate at Panera and went to Best Buy to buy a modem so that we wouldn't have to rent one from the cable company. Guess who was in the returns line? Rob! We haven't seen him in about a year and a half, which is out of pure laziness on both ends, since he only lives 5 miles away from us. We caught up with him and Dee for a while an determined that we must hang out soon. Ric and I then hurried home to pack more things and ended up running into our neighbors, Brad and Jenny. We ended up talking for a long time. I like them. They're the only thing left at the apartment complex that we regret leaving.

Tuesday Ric got home late from work, so we packed up the cars (Minis hold a lot more than you'd think, by the way) and grabbed plain sandwiches from Arby's on the way up to the new place. We unpacked and I taped up the rest of the bedroom while Ric went to get another load of stuff. We painted another wall and then I was pretty much out of energy. Pathetic back.

Wednesday Ric had a craving for Ruby's. I thought our goal was to be minimal in caloric intake while eating out this week, but I guess that's gone to pot and I will resume my healthy eating later on. We even had shakes. I have been eating so well that I now feel extreme guilt when eating stuff like that, so of course, today I have goals to do much better. We loaded up both cars again and painted another bedroom wall, and then Ric was out of energy. I don't blame him. Lugging around my boxes of books is quite a feat! I'd just like to remind everyone out there that Ric rocks. He works so much harder than I do at a job that is so much worse than mine, spends 4-5 times more time in his car per day than I do, and still manages to come home and lift all of the heavy stuff that my back can't handle.

Tonight, we hope to go yell at/beg from the U-Haul by our house to produce something we can use on Saturday or Sunday, since I tried to make a reservation on the internet and they scheduled me to pick up something in Pico Rivera, which is basically adding tons of mileage (and .99 per mile) to our expenses. After that, I really want to finish off the bedroom painting, which is looking pretty darn cool if I say so myself. It's a light brown, or dark beige, whichever you want to call it. I picked it from Martha Stewart's color palette. One coat does it all, and no primer. Sweet.

This weekend we'll be moving all the big items, and probably switch over to staying at the new place. After that I'll be coming back to the old place to clean so I can get my deposits back. Yep, he has a few hundred in security and a couple in pet deposits, so I want to clean well so I get a lot of that back.

Meanwhile, I'm almost done listening to the Hobbit, and Ric and I have been watching Lost episodes while we rest on the couches and groan about our backs after all the hard work of the day. By the way: we have so much stuff.

I was messing around with one of TiVo's cool features, the Universal Swivel Search (yet another reason why dish/cable DVRs will never compare), and was searching with Liv Ullman, of all people, and found a listing for A Bridge Too Far. The name seemed vaguely familiar, and then I saw the cast (alphabetical): James Caan, Michael Caine, Sean Connery, Elliott Gould, Gene Hackman, Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, Robert Redford, Maximilian Schell, and Liv Ullman. All they had to say was "Hopkins" and I was in, but add all of these other amazing actors, and we've got a darn good cast in a somewhat epic movie. Their roles: mostly military men involved in a late WWII attempt to take on Germany via Holland, capturing several bridges along the way, in a an operation called Market-Garden.

I had not heard of this operation, but apparently, director Richard Attenborough and the rest of the movie's makers went all out in capturing historic accuracy in facts as well as use of costume and machinery. And let me tell you, it certainly is detailed. In fact, there are so many characters and locations that it's easy to get bogged down and lose track of who's trying to accomplish what. In some ways I think of that as a negative about the film, but in others, I think it's somewhat reflective of how the situation must have felt for all of the people involved.

The movie begins at a calm pace, and feels organized, just as the men about to go on this mission feel. And, as quickly as their individual tasks go awry and confusion sets in, the movie itself becomes harder to follow. I was able to figure out, for the most part, what each group of people was trying to accomplish, but as I read on another review, the geography was a bit hazy in my mind. I was never quite sure who was closest to the final bridge, or where the Germans were in relation to them (with the exceptions of close combat scenes).

Nevertheless, this movie is massive in terms of scope. The firepower, the locations, the men, the details, the direction, and the script are great. Speaking of script, the screenplay by William Goldman is loaded with scrumptious wit and English class. I love the banter between some of the men. It adds just enough relief from the otherwise stressful situations.

I like how the movie appears to be of that traditional soft look of the 70s at the start. The mood is calm and the directing moves at an appropriate pace, then shocks us with quick edits of ammunition being fired off one by one. Looking up Attenborough, I see now that he directed The Remains of the Day. No wonder this movie had that familiar feeling.

The story itself is an interesting one to take on. I'm not sure how familiar other people are with it, but it was new to me, thus I had no idea in which direction the movie would go. The title gives a hint towards where things will end up, but I had no idea what I was in for, and it was pretty interesting to hear about all of the mishaps, mistakes, judgment lapses, and senses of overconfidence that happened in those few days.

A Bridge Too Far is interesting, confusing, detailed, and impressive. I can't say that I absolutely loved it, but I appreciated many aspects of it. As far as war movies go, I definitely have other favorites, but the particular style this one took was unique and interesting, so I'm glad I watched it.

I know this may sound a bit weird, but I'm kind of creeped out while walking around campus this week. You see, we're hosting a major conference for Christian teens. That's a good thing. They're all having a great time here. Actually, it's nice to see happy kids running around in the afternoons. But at lunch time, it gets creepy. I'm assuming they have a scheduled time for prayer and meditation, and that they're told to do that wherever they like on campus. Wherever they like has turned out to be all over the steps outside our office, on benches lining the walkway from our office, and in multiple places around the library. Basically, there's a whole trail of them from my office to my car. And they all look depressed. I'm sure they're not. They're probably just having a heartfelt moment with God, but to the casual observer, it looks like the campus has been littered with depressed teens. Silent, depressed teens. Do you know how weird it is to see that many teens yet hear absolutely nothing when surrounded by them? It's basically like experiencing a scene from The Birds (without the occasional cooing). I step out of the door, and see that I'm surrounded, and make my way quietly past all the silent, depressed-looking teens. And it feels like that last scene of the movie, where they try to make their escape to the car, which is exactly what I'm trying to do. And it's just plain creepy.

And how terrible am I for being weirded out by a moment that probably means so much to so many of them?!

I just got back from playing poker at Kevin Smith's house. It was a blast, as always. I came ahead this time, thanks to the full house I got on the second to the last hand of the evening. I had played with most of the folks before, but there were a couple newbies who were cool, including Joe Reitman, who was really nice. Thanks again to Kevin, Jen, and the rest of the clan for their hospitality. Now it's back to my normal life of sitting around and watching movies, waiting to hear back from jobs and such. I had a big interview on Tuesday that I think went well, so keep those fingers crossed folks. Have a good one.

I was surprised when I heard about this second movie featuring the Fantastic Four was going to be made, because I didn't think the first movie was that much of a hit. In fact, I dollared that one, and remember liking it just enough to give it a passing grade, despite a lot of cheesiness.

This movie, in which the Four are simultaneously dealing with the pressures of a celebrity/action-hero life and the impending end of the world, is a much better production. It rated PG, which means the action isn't very extreme, but the overall mood of the Four's movies isn't quite as serious as other comic adaptations, and so there doesn't seem to be a need for anything too dark or deep. I'm not sure the PG rating would make a difference for kids, since it doesn't seem targeted at them so much. In fact, since the group almost disbands because Sue and Reed want to go live life on a farm and be normal, I'm pretty sure the kids would have no idea of how to identify with those sentiments.

At any rate, the star of the show is, of course, the Silver Surfer. I had a hard time during the previews, because I was wondering why they would name the movie after a villain, but now that I've seen it, everything makes sense. His demeanor, his look, and his "boss" are amazing and make the movie completely worthwhile.

I don't have much else to say, but that I'm surprised it didn't receive more attention. I think some people expect FF to be like all of the other comic book movies, but the fact that it has a lighter tone is what makes it fun to me. I go in knowing that no one's going to be brooding too much, and I'll tell you one thing - no one in this movie went emo on us, and that in itself probably makes this a better movie than Spider-Man 3.

I've caught up to being only 2 weeks behind! Ric and I saw this on the 4th because we had nothing better to do, which reminds me, I really need to plan in advance for holidays more often. It's more fun that way.

I didn't watch Transformers as a child - they were for boys. So, seeing this movie wasn't exactly a top priority for me, but Ric was a fan of the show, and I was promised entertainment, so I went. The story is basically about a loner high school kid who buys a used car that turns out to be a transformer, a giant robot-alien thing named Bumblebee who is on Earth looking for a box called the all-spark with his friends, hoping to find it before their enemies find it and destroy the earth.

The plot involves some pretty horrible scenes, including a painful sequence where all the high school boy has to do is run into his house and grab a pair of glasses while the transformers wait outside. Of course, it's drawn out for a really long time, his parents are annoying, they embarrass him around his girl friend, and the transformers step on his parents' flower beds. Add to that John Turturro in his worst role ever as the most annoying character I've seen in quite some time, who simply needs to ask the boy to talk for a minute to explain what his secret government agency does, but ends up in a lame scene where he's tied to a pole in his boxer shorts. Scenes like these were most likely added for comedic effect, but weren't necessary because the lead role, played by Shia LaBeouf, was funny enough on his own. Not to mention the terrible racial stereotypes going on in other scenes.

But if you can get past all of that, as I did, this is basically a cool-looking battle between a bunch of transformers, with a likable guy and an unattainable girl (for him) thrown in the mix. The special effects are cool, and the entertainment is plenty. I liked it overall, but thought it had the potential to be a much greater film. But it was a product Michael Bay, so what did I expect?

Okay, I'm not sure if Wendy or anyone else will remember this, but back in the day on The Apprentice (remember when everyone watched it?), one of the competitions was to create a giant diorama representing the house that's featured in Zathura, an action adventure for kids based on the idea of a board game coming to life. There was a blonde chick on one of the teams, and her job was to present the diorama to the movie's director, Jon Favreau (you may remember him from Swingers). During the entire presentation she referred to the movie as "Zenthura". Hahaha. Jon Favreau was obviously unimpressed because the girl couldn't even get the name of the movie right.

Flash forward a couple of years, and I finally got around to seeing the movie. I'm not sure why, but I'm a sucker for kids' movies lately. Maybe we're actually having a resurgence of good ones, like the old favorites from the '60s.

As I said, a board game comes to life when two brothers start playing it, and they must finish the game for their lives to return to normal. The house is hit by meteors, the brothers are attacked by a malfunctioning robot, and their sister is put into a cryogenic sleep chamber, and that's all in the first few turns they take.

This movie is a lot less gimmicky to me than Jumanji, and it's generally more warm-hearted too. This isn't just an adventure for the boys. They are brothers who fight constantly (which was annoying at the beginning of the movie, but necessary for character development), and their relationship with each other is tested and explored in ways I didn't see coming, surprisingly enough. And Favreau maneuvers the camera pleasantly to capture the excitement and overall look of the film perfectly. The script has some pretty clever jokes, too, which appeal to an older audience.

And on a side note, the house that this movie takes place in is pretty much my dream home when it comes to decoration style.

I'm very glad I finally saw this movie. It's got heart, adventure, and good pacing, not to mention Bridge to Terabithia's star, Josh Hutcherson as the older brother. He seems to be doing pretty well in the acting field these days. Anyway, I definitely recommend Zathura!

If you haven't received an email with our updated address and would like to have it, please comment or email me and I'll get it to you.

It feels like it's been a long time since the last post, but I guess that's just because we've been up to a lot.

Friday afternoon I helped my sister with her resume, then we went out to eat and went to Lowe's to buy painting supplies for the new digs. We topped off the afternoon with 28 Weeks Later at the dollar theater. A few hours later, and we were out to the movies again, with Ric, to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Yes, I've already seen it twice. I thought it was quite well done.

Saturday was the usual sleeping and laundry at the folks' until the evening. Then Ric and I went over to Josh's parents' house to say goodbye to our friends. Booooooo! I mean, yay for them, but boo for us. But then again, it's a yay for us since we're taking over their house, I guess. At any rate, I hate goodbyes, but this one was a little easier because there were cute kids around to make us smile. Cosette seems to like walking to me. Just as she's really started to show that she remembers me and likes me, she's moving away. So, in the future, both kids will probably not recognize us. That's sad. We are severely going to miss hanging out with the Neals. It's been a weekly routine since, well, probably since Ric and I got married and lived in the same apartment complex with them. The funny thing is that we don't always have a ton in common when it comes to general interests (besides tv), but we always found plenty to talk about each and every week. I came close to a couple of tears but held it back by making a beeline for the car. Ric and I walked to Panera for dinner after that, only to discover it was already closed, so we ate at Ruby's and walked back to his parents' place to take a dip in the spa.

Sunday we went to church and then lounged around the house for the afternoon. In the late afternoon we started stacking boxes in our cars and headed over to the new place, where Josh's dad was putting some finishing touches on the house. We unloaded most of the kitchen and living room stuff (minus large pieces of furniture) and then started work on the bedroom. We taped up the trim and managed to get one wall finished before running out of energy. By the way, nice job on the fridge, Wendy! I'm gonna have to get used to a side-by-side but it's pretty cool!

So I guess that means the rest of this week and beyond will be all about moving stuff and cleaning our old place. I've spent a lot of time today registering address changes with multiple vendors. Yuck. We're going to have to figure out how we're going to cart some of the bigger items over there. Hopefully we won't have to rent a truck.

And hopefully we can have some of you over sometime in the near (but not too near, 'cause it will take a while) future!

Swingers (Miramax Collector's Series)

Hard Candy

American Gun

Silent Bob Speaks: The Collected Writings of Kevin Smith by Kevin Smith

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows is only one week away. So that means it should be on my doorstep sometime Saturday afternoon. My plan is to turn off my computer the night before. It will not be turned on until I finish the book, which hopefully will be by Monday. I'm still a little mad about having Book 6 spoiled on the radio the day it came out. I had done a good job of avoiding the internets, but I wasn't expecting to hear major spoilers on the radio on the Disneyland cast member shuttle. So this time I'm going to avoid all human contact for a day or two. Thank goodness I'm a speed reader.

I meant to write about the new movie, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, but I just kind of forgot. I really enjoyed it. I do think it could have actually been a bit longer since there was some major character development from the book, Ron in particular, that was left out. I am a tad concerned about some of the plot holes they are creating in the films because they have to plow through everything. I still love just looking at them though. The sets are fantastic, as always. The actors are top notch across the board. Imelda Staunton was simply amazing as Umbridge. The gal who played Luna Lovegood was fabulous too. It's just hard at times to see such amazing talents in such small roles. Folks like Brendan Gleason and Emma Thompson. I wouldn't say they're wasted though. I think it's one of the things that makes the movies what they are. The next two movies are going to be HUGE as far as story and character development go, so I'm really darn excited. Here's hoping they finish strong.

In my last installment I suggested that Chaucer was centuries ahead of his time because he goes beyond using fictional narrators simply as story-telling devices, and actually uses the stories to reveal the characters of the tellers themselves. I specifically highlighted the intentional use of the badly told Reeve's Tale as particularly clever. And later I'll discuss an even funnier and more prominent example of the same device that's downright postmodern (I told myself I wasn't going to go labeling things, but the heck with it).

For me the next tale is even more fascinating because in it Chaucer shows a side of himself that's even more modern and more surprising, considering the culture he was writing in. It's unlike any of the other tales in the book and it's probably my favorite of them all.

Reason #6: The Wife of Bath's Prologue

The first unusual thing about the Wife of Bath is the length of her prologue. The pattern Chaucer has established up to this point is that each pilgrim introduces his or her (actually, make that just his) tale with a short prologue that explains his purpose in telling it. Then everything he has to say is told through the tale. The Wife of Bath breaks this pattern by giving a very long prologue--much longer than her actual tale. At one point Chaucer even inserts a discussion between the Friar and the Summoner who are anxious for the Wife of Bath to get to the point. But here's the thing: the prologue IS the point. If you like, you can think of it in terms of feminist literature (there I go with the labels again).

According to some, traditionally male literature is linear: it has a clear beginning, middle and end; rising and falling action; all the conventional story structures we're used to. And most importantly it all moves toward a definite point. Characteristically female literature, for some, tends to be more circular and fluid, arriving at multiple points from multiple directions. It may not have a climax. It may not even be about a story: it may just be about the people and relationships. Of course, this does not characterize all writing by women, or even all literature that can be considered feminist. It's merely an idea I have heard put forth that seems to fit well with the Wife of Bath's Prologue. Like I said, the tale is not the point. The point is the prologue, in which the Wife lays out her view of marriage. And she has plenty to say. She begins (This and all other modern English translations come from here):

Experience, though no authority
Were in this world, were good enough for me,
To speak of woe that is in all marriage;
For, masters, since I was twelve years of age,
Thanks be to God who is forever alive,
Of husbands at church door have I had five;
For men so many times have married me;
And all were worthy men in their degree.

The Wife of Bath opens by pointing out that she has been married five times, and she claims this experience as her own authority on the subject of marriage. This is in direct opposition to the prevailing view at the time--that authority comes from scholarly wisdom, passed on through religious texts. She’s essentially asserting that she knows as much, if not more, about marriage than any religious