Monday, March 17, 2008

Mostly Movies

So, the weekend was fun! We spent a lot of time just relaxing and enjoying the time together but the big day was Saturday for WWH. He spent the day with one of his brothers and his dad and they took him go-karting. He LOVED it. Then I took him out to dinner at our favorite Mexican place called Botannas. After dinner we went to the bar that has the 4 mini-bowling lanes and waited for our friends and family to arrive. We had about 20 people show (I promise, pictures coming). I had to keep score all night so I was concentrating on that and totally forgot to take some pictures. But I did get a few!

We watched FOUR movies during the weekend, so that will be the majority of my post today.

Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium:
A cute kids movie. Not the best I’ve ever seen but some cute characters played by Dustin Hoffman (Mr. Magorium) and Natalie Portman (Mahoney) and the star, an unknown (in my book) by the name Zack Mills. The basic plot of the movie is about Mr. Magorium’s toy store and who he will leave it too when he “leaves the earth”. He is after all 243 years old! I think kids 12 and under will really like this movie.
2.5 out of 5

The Brave One:
Starring Jodie Foster and Terrence Howard this is a dark movie. It’s hard to watch, the beating scene was pretty horrible but I think it had to be done that way so that we believe or understand why Jodie Foster’s character starts taking the law into her own hands. I’ve seen Terrence Howard in a few movies lately and I’m really starting to dig him. He’s so understated in his acting and it really works for me. So, for t
he plot, Jodie Foster and her fiancée are walking their dog in Central Park and get brutally attacked. A changed woman, Erica Bain (Foster) tries to get back to work in an NPR-like radio gig but the anger and hurt start to transform her into a vigilante.
3.5 out of 5

August Rush:
This has got to be the sappiest movie I’ve ever seen. A feel-good movie starring Keri Russell, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, and Freddie Highmore, along with a supporting character played by guess who? – Terrence Howard of course! Here’s the plot: Two young musicians meet, fall in love, and then are separated by an dominating father, the Atlantic Ocean and time. Meanwhile a child abandoned at an orphanage lives his live through music because he feels it’s the way back to his parents. Robin Williams also has a supporting role and it’s a bad guy, I didn’t like the character so Williams hit the mark. My son and I kept rolling our eyes (it’s our thing) when a movie goes above and beyond our tolerance level for anything. This time, they were rolling because of the schmaltz. - just too much of it and far to predictable for me to enjoy. Others may love this movie but for me it’s like The English Patient – Bleck – what was everyone gushing about?
1.5 out of 5

Dan in Real Life:
I saved the best for last. I really am starting to have a crush on Steve Carell. I loved him in “Little Miss Sunshine” and “Evan Almighty” but not a huge fan of “The Office”. My son is a HUGE fan of that TV show and constantly tries to get me to watch the episodes on our DVR. I think he is way too goofy on that show and I really like him in a more serious role. As for the plot: Dan is a widow with three girls and he’s been alone since his wife’s death because he’s had such a hard time getting over her. During a family outing (do they ever say why everyone is getting together?) at his parents house (played by Dianne Wiest and John Mahoney) he meets this woman that just opens him up and lights his soul back on fire. They part not knowing if they will ever see each other again but of course they will, as she is the latest girlfriend of his younger brother. Hilarity ensues. Very heartfelt and funny from his relationships with his daughters to his close-knit, nosey family I loved every second of this film.
4.25 out of 5

Friday, March 14, 2008

Birthdays and Anniversaries

Today on iTunes: Led Zeppelin – Mothership
Temp – 46 degrees. (It made it into the 50’s yesterday!)
Gas Prices - $3.29! Holy Crap! I’m so glad I bought me a mini car last year!

Well, it’s finally Friday and my ass is just dragging through the day. At 8:00am I said to myself, “Only 8 more hours to go!” and I’ve been counting down since. Only 4 more to go now!

This weekend is WWH’s birthday. He will be 39 on Sunday. As I stated before, we are going mini-bowling on Saturday night and Sunday I am treating him to a shopping spree at Northern Tool. Oh yes! I said Northern Tool.

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned his obsession with snowmobiles and all things Arctic Cat. I knew this before we got hitched so I am kind of used to it by now, and frankly, birthday presents have come easily to me for the past 3 years – anything Arctic Cat and I’m golden. But now I’ve bought him tons of shirts and other Arctic Cat stuff so I am at a loss as to what to get him this year. He needs a new cover for his snowmobile(s) but it’s a pricey item and well over our agreed birthday budgets. So since he just bought himself a new air-compressor for his workshop (a.k.a. – our garage) I thought he might need some pneumatic tools to go along with this compressor. But what do I buy? So I will let him have a shopping spree at the tool store. Not the most exciting store for me but super fun for him – and that will in-turn, be fun for me. I’m a pretty darn cool wifey – aren’t I?

I also booked a suite at the casino we like for our 1st anniversary. We were going to rent the same cabin we stayed in for our honeymoon but they wanted $150/night! That’s ridiculous! I called the casino and they wanted $100.00/night for a Suite! I booked the suite of course! No cleaning, no dishes, hells to the yes!

Tonight, I am looking forward to dinner and a movie. I should have some movie reviews for you on Monday when I return.

Also, been treading every other day like my Doctor told me, and I kind of like it. I have other health problems I’m dealing with now – more on that cramp – oh, I mean crap next week.

Thursday, March 13, 2008

I vowed I'd never watch Idol

On iTunes: The Beatles – The White Album
Temperature today: 43 degrees again! I can’t wait to see a daffodil or tulip
Powerball Lotto: 270 Million!

I made a promise to a work-friend that I would actually watch an entire season of American Idol. I have never done so before. I have always watched the freak-show that is the auditions, but not being so much into pop music, I have never ventured further into the show and always relied on my mom to keep me up to date once someone won. I also didn’t like the fact that the American public chose the winner. I mean, talk about silly, letting the public pick a winner? They can’t elect the “right” candidate let alone pick the next pop train-wreck, Brit wannabe.

But I was talking to this friend and he told me that he and his co-workers actually place bets and join pools to pick the finalists. That got my attention. If I’m anything, I’m a gambler. I love to gamble, join pools, I play the lottery (Powerball is up to 270 Million!) and actually think I may win someday! So I thought, why not, there were some pretty cool auditions and I wondered how far some of these people would go so I promised my co-worker friend that I would watch and I am. It is really painful sometimes. I must admit to flipping channels if I don’t like the song/singer/arrangement.

So far, it’s been all right. Some good singers, some good surprises and since they are using the Lennon & McCartney songbook this season, it’s been interesting to see some of these guys takes on the songs. I haven’t seen anyone just knock one out of the park yet, but they are repeating the theme this next week, so maybe we’ll get something special then.

I thought Kristy Lee Cook would get the boot, so here it starts, where the public starts to let me down. David Hernandez wasn’t going to last much longer so he won’t be missed, but if Kristy doesn’t lay it down next week, she will be history. Even forgetting lyrics and really messing up a song won’t get you kicked off of Idol. David Archuletta (who is my mom’s favorite – she saw him on Star Search and loved him then-whatever!). Really had a bad night and it was horrible to watch someone lose it that bad on national/world-wide television but it’s like the car-wreck on the side of the freeway….you just can’t help but look.

Early picks for AI:
David Cook – what a great rocker dude!
Carly Smithson – Great voice, will go far!

Long shots for AI:
Amanda Overmeyer – A one-trick pony as my mother would say. A Janis Joplin wannabe.

Ramiele Malubay – Check the attitude, your “BFF” Danny Noriega wasn’t that good. You are way better, but we haven’t seen it in the past two weeks. You better blow us away or you are gone.

Michael Johns: My Aussie Hunk. You are adorable and your Queen song ROCKED but you’ve left a bad taste in my mouth ever since, rock it out this next week or you might find yourself in the bottom 3.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

I love my cat - most days

I love this! I've seen it before but I laughed again.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

The Outsider(s)

On my iTunes today: Eddie Vedder – Into the Wild soundtrack
Gas Prices on the move: $3.19/gallon
Weather: A balmy 39 degrees

Today we went out to eat with some our Customer Service Reps from the company that does most of our printing. We went to a Mexican restaurant called Pedro’s. It was fair to good, nothing horrible but the Margarita’s were ½ off on Tuesday’s during lunch. Now, me personally, I don’t like to drink at lunchtime. I really don’t like to drink much anymore at all. But I don’t care if my co-workers partake. The only time I’ve ever seen them drink is 1 glass of wine or one small Margarita. Fine with me. Can’t get too drunk on that small amount but I think they worry that if I’m the only one that is not drinking, I will be the one to tell or tattle. First of all, what is there to tell? Did they get all sloshed? No! Of course not! I doubt they could function without being noticed if they were sloshed. I’ve noticed since I’ve started here that there is a “group” of people, very similar to a clique in high school that likes to go out for a liquid lunch twice a year, I’ve never been invited because I think they know I don’t drink and somehow they’ve turned that into me not approving. Me not drinking is my choice and just that, a choice. I choose not to drink because I am old now and even a single drink would make me sleepy and I’m really afraid to fall asleep at my desk! I am not George Costanza from Seinfeld! I do not have a secret sleeping area under my desk! I wish I did, but I don’t.

This clique at work has bothered me since I started. I came from a workplace where I was in the clique. Now I’m the outsider and it’s hard to deal with actually. They are nice to your face but all of a sudden you are the only one left in the department when they all decide to go to lunch. Or you are sitting at your desk and all of a sudden someone comes in with food for everyone in the department except you (and maybe 2 other people they have decided are not worthy to be in their clique). I’ve talked to others in my company about the weird goings on in my department and they’ve all told me the same thing: Do you really WANT to hang out with these people outside of work? The answer is NO. They are okay and all but just not the type of people I would go looking for as friends. I also wondered if it was me. And although I have a very strong personality and sometimes clash with people who don’t know me, I’ve known these people for almost 4 years and it’s still the same thing. I’ve made really good work relationships with others in my company, but just not my own department. It’s hard to be a team when you are made to feel like an outsider on a regular basis.

Speaking of Outsiders, I subscribe to Dearreader.com, a service that sends you short reads every day of books in categories that you get to choose. For instance, I get Mystery, Fiction and Good News books sent to me. It’s a great way to take a sneak peek at books before you purchase. A new category called Classics was sent to me today and they are featuring “The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton”. I read that book back in high school and saw the movie of course (all those hunks? I course I saw it!). So it was nice for me to take another look at the photos from the movie and read the first 14 pages of the book. I might just have to read it again! Take a look at these photos, look at how young all these guys are! It came out in 1983, the same year I graduated high school so I really remember swooning over many of the boys in the movie. Again with the cliques. Although I doubt the “Greasers” from the book would like to be referred to as a clique!

Have a great afternoon.

Monday, March 10, 2008

Weekend Update and Movie Reviews

Why on earth do we switch time for Daylight Savings? I mean, I know why we do it, but I just don’t like it. I like that it will be lighter at night and spring is just around the corner (The 20th is the Vernal Equinox) but really, must we steal hours from my sleep each year? And why is it, that year after year I like it less and my body takes longer for it to adjust?

Enough of that noise. On to less angry topics. Like what I did for the weekend. Friday night was a nice night. I went to bed early, slept in late (both the guys were gone in my house) and enjoyed the peace and quiet of my home until around noon on Saturday. My son came home after working but was only there for a few minutes because his uncle took him shopping for the last two Christmas holidays. Don’t ask why my brother didn’t buy him presents in a more timely manner, it’s my brother. After coming home with a bunch of stuff, we watched a couple of movies, it was nice spending time together, we so rarely have the time anymore.

Sunday I lost an hour of sleep so I woke up all out of sorts. Then I went shopping with an old friend. She’s a cop now for the City of Milwaukee and I haven’t heard from her in months. I’ve sent emails and called, but she never responded. I started getting worried but she finally called me back on Friday and we made plans for Sunday. Just a quick trip through Target – yeah, right! – a 100 dollars later and we were off to lunch. We dined at Panera, the best sandwich shop in town and then back home.

Now it’s Monday and y’all know I don’t like Mondays, and this one is especially hard because I felt like I slept a whole 2.5 hours and am at a job where there isn’t enough work right now so I am bored….blah blah blah…that's all I've got for you today - and what I did give you was pretty meaningless. I will try harder tomorrow. Staring at a blank page day after day is very daunting. I'm glad I don't write for a living!

Here are the movie reviews for the weekend:

Eye of the Beholder:
Recommended by my mother and sorry, mom, but we don’t always agree in our tastes – big shocker isn’t it? Anyway, it starred Ewan McGregor and Ashley Judd and was made back in 2000. It’s about this whacked-out woman who goes around killing men and the agent (of what? FBI? CIA? I don’t think you ever find out) that is following her and then falls in love with this whack-job. I didn’t like it. My 19-year old son and I kept glancing at each other and rolling our eyes. I did like seeing K.D. Lang as the agent’s contact at headquarters. I she was pretty good in her limited role. I didn’t even know she tried acting. Don’t bother with this one.
1 out of 5

Gone Baby Gone:
I liked the book when I read it earlier last year and I liked the movie. I was about ½ way through when I realized that I had read the book (I don’t like to read the envelopes that my movies come in from Netflix, it gives away too much about the plot. It was on this envelope that I would’ve seen the name Dennis Lehane, the author of the book, who also authored another book-turned-movie – Mystic River). This movie was directed by Ben Affleck. That’s where I think Ben should be – behind the camera. He’s a cutie, but I just don’t think he’s got the chops in front of the camera. But his brother, Casey was really good in this movie. He’s a little guy in stature but the role was great for him. He plays a street-wise, private detective who is called upon to solve the disappearance of a 4-year old girl who went missing in their, Boston-area community. I thought it was acted well and was also a good story. My son and I both enjoyed it, especially after watching Eye of the Beholder first! Also starring Michelle Monaghan as Patrick Kenzie’s (Casey Affleck) girlfriend/partner Angela Gennaro. Morgan Freeman, Ed Harris and Amy Madigan round out the cast.
3 out of 5

Friday, March 7, 2008

Treading Lightly

I bought a new treadmill on Wednesday night. I used Craigslist too! It’s my first Craigslist purchase and it went very well. I started treading last night and it worked really nicely. WWH even got on and ran a mile. I was jealous! It will be some time before I am actually running!

After we moved that monster treadmill into our house, we watched a movie called Hot Rod and then called it a night. I will review the movie below.

This weekend I will be a snowmobile widow again. WWH and his two buddies are going up north (Northern Wisconsin) this weekend, probably the last hoorah for snowmobiling in the state. I don’t have any plans either. I would like to start working on my photo album from the wedding. It being almost a YEAR later, it’s probably time to start.

Speaking of our wedding, I made reservations to rent the cabin we honeymooned in for the weekend of April 25th to celebrate our 1st anniversary. We were going to take another week off but with WWH taking a new job, he doesn’t have any vacation time yet. We made arrangements for our cake lady to make us a mini cake and we’ll take that with us!

But first up is WWH’s birthday! We are going mini-bowling, or duckpin bowling. It’s mini-lanes (short) mini-balls, no ugly shoes, real live pinsetters, it’s really a good time. All of WWH’s family and friends are coming to the 2nd annual event. That’s next weekend so I am trying to finalize the guest list so I know how many people are coming. There are only 4 lanes, and we can fit 6 on a lane, so there are usually around 30 of us, some bowl, some watch, but all of us have a great time. I will try to take some pictures this year!

Have a great weekend!

Movie Review:

Hot Rod: This is totally a “guy” movie. If you know a guy that when he was younger, spent any time on a dirtbike, making ramps in the back yard, or spent any time worshiping Evel Knievel, then they will love this movie. It’s only about 1 hour and 20 minutes long so I suffered through it with ease. It did have some funny crash scenes that made me laugh pretty hard.

The premise is this: A young man named Rod, thinks his dad was Evel Knievel’s stunt man. It was his dad that made all of Evel’s jumps BEFORE Evel came in, made the jump and got all the glory. A ridiculous premise but we are not talking oscar-winning here, just go with it. I won't spoil the possible laughs, but his choice of ride is very humorous!

Anyway, this young man needs to earn some money for his step-dad’s heart transplant operation and comes up with the idea of jumping a bunch of buses to raise the money.

The movie surprised me. I thought I would be suffering the whole time but it had me laughing and I didn’t go into it with many expectations so I did alright.
2.5 out of 5