Movie Seen

Sunday evening my wife and I watched "Chocolate". This film is about a young girl who is autistic and watches TV and other people doing martial arts. She absorbs their moves and can instantly fight like them. She also is lightning fast and catches balls and other things thrown at her. Through years of practice and watching, she is now a master fighter.

When her mom gets cancer, the medications cost a lot. Many people owe her mother money through past transactions and with her cousin's help, she collects the money by defeating all the thugs and forcing the boss to pay up. When she sees a Bruce Lee movie on TV, she mimics his "eeeeoow" every time she hits someone with a kick and backs off. A somewhat hilarious moment in the film.

It's really somewhat of a silly kung-fu movie, but it's a lot of fun. A little hard to understand in the beginning however.

I give it 3 of 5 stars.

Movie Seen

Last weekend my wife and I watched "Castaway On The Moon". This is a South Korean film that looked interesting.

In my opinion, it is one of the best films I have seen. A young man is despondent and attempts to end his life by jumping off a bridge, but survives and washes up on a deserted island in the middle of the city.

This is a must see. The film excels on all levels. I give it 5 out of 5 stars.

We Got Tivo

Yesterday, I went to the our cable provider's office and requested DVR, which everyone knows, will allow you to record TV shows and other neat things. They were going to give me a new box, but when they checked my account, they found that all I needed was a hard drive which will attach to the current cable box.

I went home, hooked it up, but required a phone call to get it working. It's a 500GB hard drive which sits off to the side of the cable box and will store the recorded shows. The cool thing is that if you have an HDTV, you can record and play back in HDTV. Very nice.

If you are watching a show, you can press [record] and then if you have to take a break, just hit the [pause] button, and you won't miss a thing as it will keep recording.

It also can record two channels at the same time. So I think if you are watching a show at say, 8:00 in the evening, and it's the same time as two other shows are, you can watch live TV and record the other two. Ain't technology grand.

I got it because I was a bit upset over missing some of my favorite shows because I forgot they were on. Anyway, it's working fine and I am thinking that I should have done it sooner.

It ain't free, but I was able to cancel another service that costs the same so I broke even.

Movie Seen

My wife and I watched a fabulous movie on blu-ray last week. It's called "How to Train Your Dragon". I actually watched it that evening and then again the next day. It's that kind of movie, the one you want to watch more than once.

It's a mix of Star Wars and Avatar where you will recognize those two movies inside this one. Star Wars have a monster that arise out of an asteroid when they fly by and Avatar have people riding dragons.

Great movie, not just for kids. I give it 5 stars out of 5.

Movie Seen

Saturday evening after visiting Hastings MN, we decided that it was too cold and wet to stay outdoors so my wife and I went to the Mall of America to do some walking. We did some walking and she did some shopping.

We decided to go to a movie, and the only one that was coordinated with our time there was "Thor" 3D so we went to that one.

I enjoyed it a lot. It has, like "Atlas Shrugged" and "Superman I", a tremendous scene which brings positive chills.

Lots of neat special effects (nice in 3D of course) and some great characters right out of the comic book, I give this 4 out of 5.

Movie Seen

Monday evening my wife and I watched "The King's Speech". This movie was up for and won a few Oscars last year.

The movie has no thrilling action scenes, but is especially nice because it was a true story. Albert (Bertie) has a stuttering problem which prevents him from doing any public speaking. Deperate for a solution, he seeks out specialist after specialist without any success. He finally finds a man, found by Albert's wife, who may be able to help.

It doesn't go well at first, because Albert is frustrated and later questions the qualifications of the man he has hired.

After some months of training, he still can't do a very good job of it and is forced by his brother (the King) running off with a commonor and abdicating the throne to become King himself. Couldn't have happened at a worse time as England is just starting to have a war with Germany. The country needs a strong leader and one who can give them confidence in their ability to defend themselves.

His speech, which is now famous, is given with some difficulty, but is delivered well enough to elicite applause from all around him. I give this movie 5 of 5 stars. First rate and very good.

Movie Seen

Saturday evening I went to see "Source Code" at the Mall of America with a friend of mine. Good movie. It was a bit hard to follow and moves at the speed of light at times, but eventually winds up with a beautiful ending that will bring tears to your eyes.

I highly recommend it, giving it 4 of 5 stars.

Movies Seen

I watched Aliens vs. Ninjas on Wednesday evening, not bad, but the aliens were a bit fake looking as guys in latex outfits were supposed to be the bad guys. Eventually, skill and youth defeat the monsters from outer space. I liked it. We then watched "The Last 3 Days" with Russell Crowe. Great movie. Russell Crowe's character's wife is accused of murder and is sentenced to a very long prison term. All of the evidence is against her, but she is actually innocent as her husband believes. He hatches a very intricate plan to get her out of prison. Good film and toward the ending, when he has to get out of town and it's way too late to escape the ring around the city, he comes up with an ingenious plan to throw suspicision away him as he leaves town. Last night we watched "Wind Chill", a interesting movie available on "Crackle TV", which is free movies as long as you don't mind an Army commerical or few during the film. It was a scary film, with some odd twists and turns that may require a second viewing to figure out. Two college students are run off the road during the winter, and they desperately try to survive the cold and the ghosts that are running around. I give it 3 out of 5. That's it for now.

Movie

Friday evening my wife and I watched "Irina's Palm". This film is based in England and is about a family who has a very sick child. The grandmother is a fairly nondescript person who is apparently living off her deceased husband's meager pension. Her grandson requires an operation that is only available in Australia that just be his final hope for life. The problem is that it costs 6000 pounds for the trip and stay for the two weeks that they (the parents) will have to accompany the son. The grandmother is told that she has no skills, no savings and no hope of employment given her advanced age (50!?). She is dejected and is wandering the streets of London when she see an advertisement: "Hostess Required" in Soho and decides to apply for the position. She is told that "hostess" is a euphemism for something else, and the establishment is a strip club that provides a unqiue service requiring her hands. She is stocked, but eventually turns out to be the best employee the place ever had. Miki is her boss and he promises her 200-600 pounds per week. She is desperate, however; and convinces him to load her 6000 pounds and she will pay him back in 10 weeks. He agrees. She gives the money to her son and cannot tell him where the money came from. Any more and it will give too much away. Great film, a must see. In my opinion, this film has the best ending I have ever seen. It's perfect and beautiful.

Joke

Father : "Son, life is just a swirling, sucking eddy of despair, filled with brief flashes of false hope, in an ever-blackening universe."

Son: "Dad, all I said was that I wanted a bicycle."

Santa's Reindeer

Dasher
Dancer
Prancer
Vixen
Comet
Cupid
Donner
Blitzen
Rudolf

Personally I think the story of Rudolf sends the wrong message to children. It is not OK to make fun of someone's abnormality and then when they find out it's useful, they invite him to join their crowd as a welcome member.

Those Meddling Kids

Daphne, Velma, Fred, Shaggy, and Scooby-doo.

I want a Scooby snack!

Lists

The Seven Dwarves (2 d's, 2 s's and 3 emotions)

Doc
Dopey

Sneezy
Sleepy

Grumpy
Bashful
Happy

Movie

Last Sunday we went to "The Adjustment Bureau". This film has Matt Damon as a politician who is trying to get elected to Congress, but in the last minute, a college prank that was publicized causes his loss. A chance encounter with a woman in the men's room changes his thinking a bit and his consession speech is greatly improved. The two of them hit it off tremendously.

He is never to see this woman again, but a mistake by one of the "planners" (he is supposed to spill his cup of coffee before getting on a bus), brings him together with her again (she is on the bus). This was not supposed to happen. It is a serious mistake that will ruin his dreams and hers (at least that is what he is told).

The movie continues in a fast pace, and I would like to say more, but may ruin it. Go see it, it's great fun.

It has Terrance Stamp, whom I fondly recall from the movie "Modesty Blaise", made when he was quite young. "Give us a kiss, ducky." is one of his great lines while shooting it out with the bad guys.

Something Is Wrong

There is something seriously wrong with a country where it is illegal for a Girl Scout to sell one box of cookies on a public sidewalk without a permit, yet allows a group of fanatics to display unbelievably offensive picket signs wishing that more U.S. soldiers would die and with derogatory statements that target people's own private lifestyles.

This cannot be right, not in any sense of any logic or reason.

Personally I want all U.S. solders to return home safe and healthy.

On the lifestyle issue, I was brought up in a Christian home, which taught that ALL are welcome to the congregation, not just those the congregation approves of.

Movie

We saw "Get Low" last Saturday evening. This film is about a recluse man who is harboring a secret as to why he has spent the last 40 years in solitude. He wants to throw a funeral party for himself and invite all who have a story about him, but the big story is the one he will tell. This is a must see, in my opinion.

Music

Listening to Doris Day singing "Sentimental Journey" on Pandora Radio using the "Nat King Cole" station. Very cool.

Can Government Create Jobs?

The answer is no. This explains it better than I:

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=9825

I think the naming is incorrect, the government can create work, but not jobs. Jobs are productive behavior and achievement producing a good or service. Government "jobs" are financed by taking money from productive people, creating work and then giving the people who do that work the money taken from the taxpayers. That is not, in any sense of the word, creating a job.

Only private, individual people can create jobs, no one else.

Movie Seen

Last Saturday my wife and I went to "Black Swan" which is about a ballerina who is slowly losing her mind due to the strains of competition and her relationship with her mother. After the film, my wife informed me that very few people would be able to fully comprehend the picture unless they themselves were a ballerina or anyone who must devote their lives to practice and performs in front of an audience.

Good film, however, I give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Three Little Pigs

Unbeknownst to just about everyone in the world, the Three Little Pigs actually have names!

They are: "Niff Niff", "Noof Noof", and "Nuff Nuff".

If you have any trouble remembering their names, think of IOU, (a comman abbreviation for I owe you).

Useless trivia for today.

Music

Listening right now to "There's Never Enough Time" by the Postal Service on "Such Great Heights". Great!

A Joke for Our Times

And the Lord spoke to Noah and said: "In six months I'm going to make it rain until the whole earth is covered with water and all the evil people are destroyed.

But I want to save a few good people, and two of every kind of living thing on the planet. I am ordering you to build Me an Ark."

And in a flash of lightning he delivered the specifications for an Ark. "Ok," said Noah, trembling in fear and fumbling with the blueprints.

"Six months, and it starts to rain, " thundered the Lord. You'd better have my Ark completed, or learn how to swim for a very long time."

And six months passed.

The skies began to cloud up and rain began to fall. The Lord saw that Noah was sitting in his front yard, weeping. And there was no Ark. "Noah," shouted the Lord, "where is my Ark?" A lightning bolt crashed into the ground next to Noah.

"Lord, please forgive me!" begged Noah. "I did my best. But there were big problems. First I had to get a building permit for the Ark construction project, and your plans didn't meet code. So I had to hire an engineer to redraw the plans. Then I got into a big fight over whether or not the Ark needed a fire sprinkler system.

My neighbors objected, claiming I was violating zoning by building the Ark in my front yard, so I had to get a variance from the city planning commission.

Then I had a big problem problem getting enough wood to save the owls. But they wouldn't let me catch any owls. So no owls. Then the carpenters formed a union and went out on strike. I had to negotiate a settlement with the National Labor Relations board before anyone would pick up a saw or a hammer. Now we have 16 carpenters going on the boat, and still no owls.

Then I started gathering up animals, and got sued by an animal rights group. They objected to me taking only two of each kind.

Just when I got the suit dismissed, the EPA notified me that I couldn't complete the Ark without filing an environmental impact statement on your proposed flood. They didn't take kindly to the idea that they had no jurisdiction over the conduct of a Supreme Being.

Then the Army Corps of Engineers wanted a map of the Proposed new flood plain. I sent them a globe.

Right now I'm still trying to resolve a complaint from the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission over how many Croations I'm supposed to hire, the IRS has seized all my assets claiming I'm trying to avoid paying taxes by leaving the country, and I just got a notice from the state about owing some kind of use tax. I really don't think I can finish your Ark for at least another five years," Noah wailed.

The sky began to clear. The sun began to shine. A rainbow arched across the sky. Noah looked up and smiled. "You mean you're not going to destroy the earth?" Noah asked, hopefully.

"No," said the Lord sadly, "Government already has."

Music

Listening right now to "The Approaching Night" by Philip Wesley on "Dark Side Of The Soul". Very nice.

Movie Seen

Last night my wife and I watched "Shock Corridor". This movie was made in 1963, but was very good and had many excellent scenes. The story follows a reporter who wants to find out who murdered a patient in an insane asylum. He poses as a patient who has a mental illness to gain admittance to the place.

He wants to write the story of the year and win a Pulitzer prize by revealing the answer to this unsolved murder.

He eventually finds out who the guilty person is, but in turn becomes catatonic because of his experiences with the other patients and the treaments he endures, i.e. shock and hydra therapy.

This begs the question: if this place can drive a sane man insane, what hope is there for the other patients to recover? If the treaments and environment are so hideously awful that it makes a man lose his mind, something might just be wrong with the methods they are using.

The movie starred many actors that I fondly recall from "The Twilight Zone" series. I think just about every one of them was in an episode or two of the Rod Serling series.

My Wife's Trip to Ecuador