Drum Corp International Concert

Last night at the Cinemark theatres at Jordan Landing, there was a concert for Drum Corp International. It was a really neat show in which they did the countdown to the best over the past few decades voted on by fans at the DCI website. They showed drum corp from the 1970's, 1980's, 1990's and a couple from the 2000's.

The movie can be purchased for $39 from the website click here. It was a lot of fun and we have thought about going to an actual DCI event. There is one in Denver, CO featuring some really good corps on Saturday, July 15th. There is also one in Boise, ID on the 12th but that is in the middle of the week. Anyway, it is a possible road trip that we are concidering.

Plans are in the works to buy the video but as budgets are limited, can't guarantee that it'll happen.

Fake Teeth are No Fun

So I went and got my second cap done today. Well actually the cap won't be done for two weeks, but the long process of the whole process is done. For those of you that are lucky enough to not have any caps I'll give you a short run down as to the process that takes place. You sit in the chair and the dentist puts a numbing agent on your gums because he's going to stick a needle in there and numb at least 25% of your face. Once the numbing has taken effect, hopefully anyway, he starts to just drill, sand, whatever to get rid of what tooth is there so that the cap can go on nicely. Once he's done your tooth feels like a little stub. It's actually pretty cool feeling on your tounge, if the novacaine didn't numb your tounge that is. Then they take all sorts of molds of your teeth and what not so that they can get the fake tooth ordered and a temporary one in place. Once that is done, you are free to go and wait for the effects of the novacaine wear off over the course of the next couple of hours. During which time if you eat anything, you'll chew a hole in your face and not feel a thing. When the feeling finally starts to come back you wish that it would go a little quicker because it feels as if there is a pins and needles stabbing you in the face slowly moving closer to the gums where you got stuck. The rubber face isn't that fun. Now it's almost four hours later and the lip is finally starting to tingle with the feeling of feeling. Shouts of joy are raised. It's nice to finally have your face back to normal.

Now I'm going to do a Song of the Day! Will Smith is one of my favorite actors/singers. I think I've mentioned that before. Anyway, on his latest album he did a song with Snoop Dogg called Pump Ya Brakes. It's a good song that basically says don't jump to conclusions or there could be a big mess.

Google

Over the past few days, I have gotten more involved with online functions using google. I've used Google Earth before and have had g-mail almost from its inception, but have not really used it. I am so excited about some of the other functions.

For example, with g-mail, I can use it to sort my emails which really helps with my geocaching downloads. It also makes it so I can download direct from my GSAK (Geocashing Swiss Army Knife) program instead of downloading to my computer and then loading into GSAK.

The newest program is Calendar. It's not really new, but is new to me. It is so versitile and has so many different capabilities that we are able to share information, dates, times, and events. You can look specifically at your own calendar or everyone that you share calendars. This way, I can look at mine, my wife's, brother's, and sister's to see if we can plan a family function or to see what other events we can work on.

Working with Google, the Firefox internet browser has add-ons that can help you to monitor your g-mail account and will actually log you on automatically by the press of a button.

Another thing that I will start using that will incorporate all of these plus news, weather, and other items is the Google homepage where I can set it up the way I want, having my g-mail and calendar incorporated within. How cool is that? Its like one-stop shopping, without actually spending money.

Anyway, of all the things to blog, I think this seems more like a commercial which is ok because the more people that I know that switch to Firefox and Google, the better. I do have invites available to friends who would like one so if you don't have g-mail and would like to sign up, send me an e-mail and I will get you an invite.

Time to Blog......

So I haven't had anything to say the last couple of days. For one that has kissed the Blarney Stone I haven't been feeling the gift of gab. I attribute it to the fact that I haven't felt very good the last couple days. I wanted to blog and tell the world that I played racquetball yesterday. And because of the lucky circumstance of Jer coming in mid-game, I beat Hess by default, I think the score was like 8 to 3 or something around there. It was his turn to serve and he was on the warpath to come back and kick my backside into the wall, so great timing Jer, thanks!!! I did get hit near the groin area and in the throat, it hurt for a minute, but luckily it didn't kill me. I think I took it like a man and didn't even cry.

I know those of you still reading are saying get to the Song of the Day. We die when you miss a Song of the Day and it was missed yesterday, I know and I apologize. So todays Song of the Day is by Chicago. I picked it because my wife and I were chatting when it came on and it just happens to be our song. The song is You're the Inspiration. It is a great song and one of Chicago's best. They probably should have broken up once Peter Cetera left. Anyway, thanks for reading.

Weekend

This weekend was pretty fun. I think it was a bit full, but none the less, fun.

It started Friday night after working at Albertson's. I got home around 10:30 and Aurora and her friend were there waiting to watch scary movies. So, we sat up and watched a scary movie then I went to bed.... around 2am.

THEN, I got up around 6ish to go get some beds my mother-in-law purchased. It was way to early to do that kind of stuff, but we went anyway.

Next we made our way to a West Jordan park to meet up with fellow Geocachers (we meaning Mason, Nicole, Harold, Vicki and myself) to clean up a stretch of road from litter.

After that it was on to Utah County to do some geocaching. We went to find some puzzle caches and found 4 of the puzzles but ran out of time to find the last puzzle. Oh well, new trip down to Utah County.

Dinner at Duffy's followed our adventures where we stayed up late playing games and watching a watermelon-eating contest between Harold and Aurora. Harold one by a landslide, in case you were wondering.

Sunday, was a day to rest in which we didn't really rest. Got up and made breakfast, went and got a few things at the store and then the late-afternoon was spent at Lagoon with the wife and kids. We had a lot of fun and since it wasn't crowded, we didn't have many problems.

Went to dinner and then home. It was a pretty full weekend but a lot of fun.

Quick Survey

So many of you know that I just bought a car and I'm going to get it registered sooner or later so I can actually drive it. I'm thinking of a license plate to put on it, customized of course. It can only be 7 charactes so it could be "HEY NRD" or "HEYNERD". Those of you that understand this cool, if not, then remind me to tell you the story one of these days. So the polls are now open.

A Quick Post

So it's close to the end of the day and I'm leaving soon. I just wanted to do a quick blog to say hello. Hello...that's it. Just kidding. So a few posts back I talked about a cool Extension for Firefox, or Lightninghippopotamus as it's called for me today, that was called InfoRSS. Yeah, it's not really that cool, it is pretty annoying. It doesn't remember what you've read and what you haven't so it keeps pulling posts from the different RSS feeds that I had set up. I'd get all of Neal's blogs since he switched over to WordPress. It got really annoying. Anyway, it's no longer on my machine.

Song of the Day time... Today I'm choosing Cotton Eye Joe by Rednex on the ESPN Presents: Jock Jams, Vol. 3. This song is done basically for cheerleaders to dance to, but it is a good pick me up song and has a catchy beat to it. Pretty cool. If you close your eyes you can even see the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders dancing to it, hahaha.

Blood

For those of you that know me know I'm pretty big on blood donation. While I don't talk about it a lot, I do talk more about it when I become re-eligible to do so. I have been eligible for a couple of weeks and finally went in today to give my pint.

For those of you that are ineligible, it is unfortunate for you. For those of you that CAN donate blood, I would plead with you to do so. It is very important and could possibly save a life. The American Red Cross has a blood donation center close by and they usually have drives around the city. Anyway, had to get a good plug for this organization.

If you are unsure of your blood type, the first time you go in, they will type it at the lab and send you a note and a donation card in the mail. Then, from then on you will know. I, myself am O negative. This, for those that don't know about blood type, is the Universal Donor. In otherwise, anyone can accept my blood.

For those of you with different blood types, you can call and ask about donating whole blood vs. platelets (people with AB blood are really in demand for platelets that help with burn victims.)

I enjoy giving blood and minus begin stuck by a needle, I don't mind so much. So, if you can give blood, please do.

Song of the Day

So today's Song of the Day was one that I picked last night while we were driving to dinner. This song comes from the Disney movie Pete's Dragon. It's called Boo Bop Bopbop Bop (I Love You Too). If you seen the movie you know that Pete and Elliot, Pete's dragon, are singing this song together after Pete has successfully run away and hidden from the Gogans with help from Elliot. Charlie Callas did the voice of Elliot and he does a lot of bops and other noises, but it's not clear what he is saying. Last night it came on the iPod and I was trying to sing with Elliot and Bree was in the back just laughing. She even said "daddy, your silly" or something like that. So I decided that it needed to be the Song of the Day today. So there you have it.

Movie Review: Roll Bounce

The movie Roll Bounce was a movie that sparked my interest when I saw the trailer on the Apple Movie Trailers website. Didn't think much about it untill Chels brought it home.

Roll Bounce is a movie about roller skating in the late 70's. A group of "south side" boys would skate at the local skating rink, but it gets closed and they now have to travel 30 miles to the next closest skating rink. This new skating rink, the Sweetwater, is a nice place where everyone in the rink knows about Sweetness, the best skater at the Sweetwater. There is a skate off competition that takes place, and while most of these feel good movies are easy to predict, Chels and I had differing opinions on how it would end, so it wasn't totally predictable. It had some long parts and there is a lot more going on than skating. Father and son have a blow out where a car gets messed up.

Minus the point where they are trying to transition the story line, and it gets a little boring, the movie is pretty good. I'm not sure that it is one that I'd rush out and get for my collection, but I would gladly watch it again if someone was renting it.

Movie Review The Poseidon Adventure (2005) TV

Seems all I do these days is watch movies. Anyway, got a new one. I like the storyline for this film, or at least the concept as this is the first I've seen. I would like to see the earlier 1972 verson of The Poseidon Adventure but have not yet. It has a pretty start-studded cast with Gene Hackman, Red Buttons, Shelly Winters, Ernest Borgnine, and Roddy McDowell.

Anyway, the version of The Poseidon Adventure we saw was made for TV and was actually a 2-part movie that did have a few big names in it: Steve Guttenburg, Adam Baldwin, Rutger Hauer, Bryan Brown and C. Thomas Howell. As I said, I do like the storyline and they have made some updates to this version vs. the 1972 version. They have added a couple of characters, deleted a couple of characters, and have updated the ships demise to terrorists. (I'm assuming the 1972 version was something different because terrorism really wasn't big in 1972, as far as I know.)

They have changed a few of the names to pay homage to certain individuals (like the captain's in this version was named after the original writer of the book.)

I thought this was a good story and kept me watching. The visuals were pretty good but were not "big budget" and you can tell that this was made for TV. This is one to definately watch and compare to the 1972 version, (that's my general plan.) I would suggest owning this one if you are a collector of these types of movies (i.e. Titanic or any of the others of similar name.)

They are also coming out with a Special Edition Poseidon Adventure (1972) due out this May. This comes ahead of the 2006 remake entitled Poseidon to be released May 12th.

Good movie, can't wait to see the others and possibly have the entire collection.

A cold week so far...

Sunday was windy, Monday snowed all day, and this morning it was still snowing. Crappy weather. This weekend is supposed to be really nice though, so I'm looking forward to that. We are going to get some bricks around our flower beds and get them started looking a lot better. I have to call someone to find out how much a dump truck load of dirt, top soil, is. It should be a good rest of the week. And the weekend should be great.

Now for the Song of the Day. Today's song of the day is from a collection of 50's and 60's that I have. B.J. Thomas hit the nail on the head when he said, "I'm never going to stop the rain by complaining, because I'm free, nothings worrying me" in his song Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head.

Movie Review Time Changer

I made it through all 3 of the movies I picked the other night. I'm glad that I got an opportunity to watch all 3 because they all seem to have some lessons to teach. The last of the 3 I picked last week is called Time Changer. I was impressed with this movie, not because of the acting, but because of the storyline. The acting was, well, I liked the storyline.

Imagine that it is the 1890's. A bible professor at one of the local schools has written a book. It is soon ready to go to print but the publisher would like an endorsement from the school that will help promote the book, the college, and increase sales of the book itself. To get an endorsement, the writer, Dr. Carlisle, needs to get a unanimous vote from the other staff. All but one agrees with the endorsement and the one, Dr. Anderson, tries to convince him that a section of his book needs to be changed. In the book, Dr. Carlisle states that the morals of Jesus Christ can be taught without giving credit. That teaching the morals would be important and would lead people back to Christ by teaching the morals alone.

Dr. Anderson sees it differently and requests that Dr. Carlisle come to his home to prove his theory. Reluctantly, Dr. Carlisle does go to Dr. Anderson's house to find that Dr. Anderson has a machine that can travel back in time. Dr. Anderson sends Dr. Carlisle 100 years into the future. A future where morals are looser, and Christ has been taken out of the teachings.

He learns quickly that once credit for the teachings of Christ are not given proper credit, they become open to interpretation. He is shocked and dismayed at the way people are in the 21st century. He eventually comes to realize that to teach morals, you have to make sure that the authority is given to them so that people know they are absolute and not open to interpretation.

Anyway, good story. Really enjoyed watching it and the testimony he bears at the futuristic church is an eye opener. You realize how desensitized we have become and how we have spiraled away from proper teachings.

I give this a high rating because it has a strong message. If you are a collector of Christian films, I would recommend this one for the collection but otherwise, get it from the video store and watch it at least once.

Movie Review Good Night and Good Luck

I know its late at night and I should probably be in bed. When I went to the video store the other night, I went by myself allowing me to get 3 movies on MVP without having anyone else question my picks. Given that opportunity, I thought of shows that I wanted to see and, as a result, am quite happy with my picks. The first being Fahrenheit 451 previously reviewed and tonights show, Good Night and Good Luck.

Good Night and Good Luck is a show about the famed McCarthy hearings of the 1950's and Edward R. Murrow, the reporter that put a stop to it. Written and directed by George Clooney (who also stars as Fred Friendly), this show is a dramatization of the events that unfolded in the early 1950's during what has been refered to as "McCarthyism".

After World War II, things have settled down at home but a new fear starts to dominate society, that of the communists and their "take over" of America. Once allied with communists, the US now, at the beginning of the Cold War, watches their neighbors with a watchful eye and suspision. Senetor Joseph McCarthy plays on those fears and creates a panic reminiscent of the Salem Witch Trials where only an accusation becomes good enough to condemn a person to the fate of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Edward R. Murrow takes a stance, not questioning whether the individuals are, in fact, communists, but instead questions the antics and procedures being used to accuse and condemn these individuals.

This film captures the fear of the time created by this junior senator from Wisconsin and the boldness of Edward Murrow, Fred Friendly, and the reporters helping to support this weekly broadcast and expose the illigitimate accusations. Filmed in black and white, it gives it an air of authenticity. Senator Joseph McCarthy is played by none other than himself as film footage of the hearings, Senator McCarthy's broadcasts, and other CBS broadcasts of the times help to give additional authenticity to this film.

I, myself, am somewhat of a history fan. I enjoy seeing or reading things that happened within the past. This film helped to shed some light on the problems of the times. While this film has very little special effects, I would not recommend the theatre for this one but would in fact state that this would definately be worth renting. This is a show to watch when the kids are in bed and quiet so attenion can be paid to the dialogs and reproduction of the broadcasts. History buffs will want this one for their collection. While the broadcasts themselves are authentic, the rest may be from the mind of the writer but is very respectful and well presented.

One thing, as you know I love controversy, is to pay attention to the speech given by Murrow at the beginning and the end of the show. Think to what television is today and how prophetic his words really are as to the direction of television. In its infancy, television had so much potential and while some is retained, a lot has been forsaken for the power to entertain vs the power to educate. Even the education has an air of entertain that sometimes, most of the time, overshadows the educational benefits of this medium.

Friday

So today is Good Friday, and that means that Easter is only a couple days away. I'd like to say Happy Easter to everyone and hope that we can all reflect on why Easter is a holiday. I got a cool quote today, it's by Jeffery R. Holland, one of the 12 Apostles on the earth today. Here's his quote...

Surely the most majestic moment of that fateful Friday, when nature
convulsed and the veil of the temple was rent, was that unspeakably
merciful moment when Christ said, 'Father, forgive them; for they know
not what they do.' As our advocate with the Father, He is still making
that same plea today--in your behalf and in
mine. (Jeffery Ro Holland, "The Peaceable Things of the Kingdom", Ensign, Nov. 1996, 83)

In the spirit of Easter, the Song of the Day is I Know That My Redeemer Lives from the new Mormon Tabernacle Choir & Orchestra At Temple Square CD, Then Sings My Soul. HAPPY EASTER!

Movie Review - Fahrenheit 451

Most of you know that I like the conspiracy theories and movies based on the "possibilities" of government going to far. Mostly because, well, its an interesting subject. Anyway, there is a movie that I've been wanting to see for years and finally took an opportunity to do so.

The movie is Fahrenheit 451. This is based on the novel of the same name by Ray Bradbury. Basically, in the future, all books and written material has been banned. Information is disemenated through television and newspapers that look basically like comics without words. (TV in print, if you will.) Firemen no longer put out fires but are actually employed to burn books hidden by those pesky citizens that just don't get the idea that books are "bad for you." The books are burned and the individuals that are caught are sent to "re-education" camps.

This story follows such a fireman by the name of Montag (played by Oskar Werner.) As Montag goes about his daily life, he meets Clarisse who asks him about his job and her final question to him is, "Do you ever read the books that you burn?" Well, this gets Montag thinking about what is the big deal? Why would people risk their lives for contraband? So, he begins to read, and read, and read until he is hooked. One thing not answered, which is very interesting, is how Montag knows how to read. In a society where print is outlawed, reading would not be necessary so it would not be taught. So, how does he know how to read? Good question. I wish our illiterates were as literate.

This is a very good story. I would like to one day read the book and may get to it.... eventually. There is also talk of a remake to be released in 2007 but no cast has been contracted yet. Anway, digressing again.. (I do that a lot these days.)

This movie was released in 1966 and you can tell that it was. It was produced and directed in England and we all know how stiff they can be. Anyway, I would recommend this movie simply because of the storyline. It has an interesting plot and is quite sad. Makes you wonder which side of the coin you would be on.

Since the original was released in 1966, I don't think that a theater will be playing the original anytime soon. Not sure on what special effects the new movie will have but will withhold judgement on the theatre vs home video for the new one. I would recommend that if you can get ahold of a copy of this movie, it is worth the watch. Ignore the 1960's look and acting. The story is the important part. Rent it if no one you know has it. Wouldn't recommend for the video library unless it will round out your "conspiracy" collection. (again, withholding judgement on the 2007 version.)

Twix and a DP

So I kind of skipped lunch today because of a couple things. 1. I didn't bring anything, big reason. 2. I had some meetings that took up the lunch, plus I've been working on some stuff that needs to get done. Now when I say kind of missed lunch, that means I did eat something, I had some ramen...dry. Didn't take time to make it properly, I just smashed the noodles and ate them dry. It's a pretty good snack. So I'm sitting here realizing that my snack of a lunch didn't last very long, so I went and got a Twix and a DP. For someone who is trying, albeit not very hard, to lose weight a Twix and a DP isn't going to help me knock off those pounds. But I'm going to eat it anyway and see how things go.

Now it's time for the Song of the Day. I'm having a bad music today where nothing is really striking my mood. The kind of tired, kind of grumpy, kind of hungry, and ready for a weekend so I'm being extra picky today. So I'll give it a couple skips forward to figure it out. Ok, after having to look through the list I think I found it. It's by country star Blake Shelton. The song is called Some Beach. Basically it's about dreaming about being on some beach somewhere because of "some beach". One of the verses and the chorus in the song are...

I sat in that waiting room
It seemed like all afternoon
The nurse finally said doc's ready for you
you're not gonna feel a thing we'll give you some novocain
That tooth will be fine in a minute or two
But he stuck that needle down deep in my gum
And he started drilling before I was numb

Some beach
Somewhere
There's a beautiful sunset burning up the atmosphere
There's music and dancing and lovers romancing
In the salty evening air
On some beach
Somewhere
On some beach, somewhere

I sure would like to be on a beach somewhere.

Movie Review Standards

Ok, so I've started thinking about our movie review rating system and procedures. I think that is important to cover a couple of different areas. First, we should include some sort of synopsis as to what the story is about without giving away the good parts.

We should then give our assessment of the movie in our own like/didn't like, good/bad, and why type situation. As far as ratings, I think there are 2 main categories:

1. Video/Theatre - is the theatre going to make a difference in the viewing experience? In other words, what are the special effect liks and is it better to hear them on the surround sound of the theatre. Are the visuals something you HAVE to see in a theatre or is home viewing going to be enough of an experience, in other words, is it mostly the story that is entertaining vs the special effects.

2. Rent, Borrow, Own - Next would be quality of show itself. Is it a one-time view or is it something that is going to be repeatedly watched? Is it worth spending the money on or wait for some other schmuk to waste their money on it? In other words, "view it if you get an opportunity but don't waste money on it" or "good for a one time rental but not good enough to own", or lastly, "a must have for the entertainment collection."

I guess if the movie is aweful enough, it wouldn't fall into any of these categories and therefore the rating would be a "stay away because its a waste of time, money, energy, film and should be banned from existance and the writers/director should be drug out in the street and flocked." I've heard that Gigli measures up to that standard but haven't had a desire to check it out.

So, there's my ideas. We can refine if you think it might be necessary but here again are the basics:
1. Brief synopsis
2. Personal evaluation
3. Rating of home vs. theatre
4. Rating of own, rent, or borrow.

Let me know what you think.

6th North Overpass

As I was driving to work today, I remembered a story that I wanted to put in my "The Life and Times of Brandon McGee" which is basically a book of all the stupid crap I did when I was a kid. The second half will be for all the stupid stuff I'll do in the future. Here's a story I remembered and wanted to write it down somewhere in case I forgot.

When I was 17/18ish, I had a 1981 blue mustang. It was my pride and joy back then. It had its problems but it sure was a good car. I loved that car but ended up having to sell it and having my friend destroy it within a month of owning it. But I digress.....

One story in particular involved me, my brother, my middle finger, and the 6th North Overpass. (Tracy remembers and is probably laughing right now.)

Anyway, Tracy and I were headed home. We were on northbound 3rd west and were in the left hand turn lane to turn west on 6th North. For those of you that don't know, 6th North has an overpass that goes over I-15. There was another car headed our direction and at the moment we got into the turn lane, it looked like I should wait for it. Then it slowed and didn't seem to know where it was going.

About that time, another vehicle came up behind us honking its horn. I looked in my rearview mirror and see a lady in her 40's who seemed very agitated driving and an old man sitting in the passenger seat very docile. I asked my brother, "Think I should flip her off?" He said, "Sure". So, as we made the left hand turn, I stuck out my hand and flipped her off. Tracy, not seeing the gesture, looked back and apparently the lady had become extremely upset.

Tracy asked if I did flip her off and I told him I did. He told me that the lady was very upset and was coming after us. I looked in my rearview again to see a very angry lady trying to chase me down. So, I did what every other red-blooded teen male in a sports car does, I gunned it.

We sped over 6th North coming down to 9th West and a red light. I signaled and moved into the right turn lane with my very agitated persuer behind me. As I got to the turn, the light turned green, I signaled left hit the gas and went straight leaving her in the right turn lane with a slew of cars now between me and her with no immediate prospects of getting left to go straight.

So, we made our escape. It was a nice sunny afternoon and I enjoyed the excitement. Its fun to look back and remember all the stupid stuff we did as kids.

Life is interesting.

What's up to everyone? Nice blog. Great movie reviews. Tracy I liked the movies I have seen with ya. My review would have to be for Ice Age 2 The Meltdown. Definitely worth going too. Well I think so I have been twice. Good movie. Loved it. Will buy it. Go see it. haha.

Life is good on the home front. Just waiting for the hubby to get home. We miss him tons. Its true that distance makes the heart grow fonder. Definitely can't wait to see him.

He is working hard well I guess you could say that. 4-7 hours a night and then sits at his temporary place of residence and well plays games. He has it so easy I am very jealous. He is good though and wants to get home.

Life, I have decided is interesting. It throws you all different kind of blows and well 99% of the time you are supposed to just "take it up the tail pipe"-jim carry, liar liar.

Well lets just say my tail pipe is stuffed until we have some kind of clearance *or really good bm* we are just gonna have to suffer.

Ah well life would suck if it wasn't interesting right.

Early Morning Basketball

I've decided that I need to do something that helps me to exercise a little. Get rid of the tire that is currently hanging around my mid section. I'm not a big exercise freak, as a matter of fact the only times I like to run, or that I run usually is if I'm chasing something, like playing b-ball or one of my kids is running around, or if I'm being chased, like by a big dog, and even then I'd have to really think about a couple things. If I'm running with anyone, I only have to outrun that person. If I'm running alone, then I might just have to let the dog catch up and do it's damage. Anyway, the idea of me and exercise is almost laughable. This morning however, with a couple of other guys in the neighborhood. Talk about kicking my butt. I ran for all of 1 minute before I was ready to head home and crawl back into bed. I stayed and tortured myself a while longer and had a good time. I'll pay for it tomorrow. We'll see if I can keep up some sort of exercise though, wish me luck.

Now for the Song of the Day. I know I missed it yesterday, it was a pretty hectic day. Today has kind of been that way too, only about 30 minutes of desk time so far today. So not many songs listened too. So here we go, let's get one. I should keep track of past songs of the day so I don't repeat too often. Today's Song of the Day is...Tell Me Why (Featuring Mary J. Blige) by Will Smith on his newest album Lost And Found. It's a really good song and basically asks the question 'Why?'. It starts out by talking about the morning of Sept. 11th and his son asking him about what happened and why it happened. He goes on to ask questions like, 'Why is human life always denided for loot', 'Why the can't love seem to defeat hate'. Anyway, if you haven't heard it, have a listen. Great song.

Movie Review Nanny McPhee

Each Monday at the dollar Cinemark Theatres, they have $0.50 family night. Each member of the family gets in for just 50 cents. So, to take a family of 6 to the dollar theatre actually costs us $3.00.

Last night, being a Monday night, we went to see Nanny McPhee. Staring Emma Thompson as Nanny McPhee and Colin Firth as the father in dire need of help with his 7 unruly children, Nanny McPhee shows up to help. While it shares similarities to Mary Poppins in that the nanny uses "unusual" means to complete their jobs, Nanny McPhee has by far a tougher job with the Brown children than Mary Poppins has with the Banks children.

Very hilarious and is definately a MUST SEE. Theatre vs. home video doesn't matter much as there are not a lot of special effects where a theatre would be beneficial but this is definately a must own for the video collection.

Based on the collection of books entitled Nurse Matilda, this may definately be a collection worth looking into owning.

School Pictures

Recently, the school took pictures of the kids. Since we get our pictures done at Walmart, we usually don't get the school pictures. Mostly because we don't have control over the pictures since the school does them.

Anyway, one of the things they do to "entice" you to buy the pictures is to send them home. Maybe they think this will make you think you ordered them and just need to pay for them or that you may like them and you will pay for them OR they send them with the kids and if they get lost, you pay for them. Whatever their reasoning, they send them home with a full packet of pictures.

The pictures were not too bad so we have scanned them and they are shown below.

Movie Reviews...

So I have 3 movies that I want to review. Hopefully I can remember them all...

The first one is The Greatest Game Ever Played with Shia LaBeouf and directed by Bill Paxton. This was a really good movie. Of the three I'm going to review today, this is the best one. LaBeouf's character is a kid that has grown up right across the street from a golf course. He grew up caddying and playing where he could. You see him as a little kid putting a golf ball in his bedroom late at night. He grows up to be pretty good. The other half of the story is about an english golfer by the name of Harry Vardon, who since as a little kid, was also a big fan of golf, and very good at it. With this being based on a true story, I was expecting the "feel good" movie that most are when inspired by or based on true events. They did a great job. There were a couple scenes that I think should have hit the cutting room floor, but for the most part they did a great job. This movie had some serious parts and some pretty funny parts. I'd say it is one that I'm going to eventually add to my collection.

Second is An Unfinished Life with Morgan Freeman, Robert Redford, and Jennifer Lopez. This movie was pretty good. I could sit through it again but I don't think I'd be running out to buy or rent this movie again. The thing that is hard for this movie is that they have 3 stories, maybe 4, that eventually tie in together. Well kind of. This movie follows a battered Jennifer Lopez to a little podunk town in Wyoming as she gets away from a loser of a boyfriend. She heads to the farm of her deceased husbands father, so her father-in-law. He's not happy to see her, she has a kid, and the storylines all affect this little girl. Well she's supposed to be 11 or 12 I think. This story had a few holes in it that I feel that they could have filled a little better, and tried to tie some of them off at the end, but still left you wondering about a few things. Good movie, like I said though, it's a one-time-renter, but you could watch it more than once if someone else rented it.

Third is Theif Lord. Chels picked this one up mainly for the kids. And after watching it, with the kids, I can see why. It is a good family movie where the kids will be really entertained and if the adults can stay focused on it long enough it will start to make sense and turn out to be a pretty good movie. This movie starts out with Prosper, the older brother, kiddnapping his little brother, Bo, from a mean aunt and uncle that want to adopt Bo since their mother has passed away. They run away to Venice where they make friends with the Theif Lord and become part of his gang. The Theif Lord is given a job to steal a wooden wing for this count. The wooden wing goes to this magical merry-go-round. I'm not going to say much more because I don't want to give anything away. This movie is multiple renter, espically for the kids. I'd watch it again. If you rent it remember that you have to hang in there for a bit to have it catch your attention. I almost turned it off for something else but stayed with it and was pleasantly suprised by the end.

Those are the three movies that I wanted to review. Good luck in your renting...

PS B, we need to really figure out what our rating scale should be...

Weekend Recap

I'll have to agree with Tracy on it being a wonderful weekend. This weekend was Lagoon's opening weekend. Although Aly didn't get to go this weekend (she was training at the zoo this weekend), we did have a good time. I took the kids and went with Kara and her two kids as well. It was a lot of fun and the kids really enjoyed it.

One ride they really liked was the Merry-Go-Round. The kids went on that ride 4 times in a row. It was a lot of fun.

We then spent some time geocaching this weekend. It was great. Found a couple of regular caches and a few micro caches. When we went to pick up Aly, I noticed one that I always wanted to go find. It's up by "This Is The Place" monument. Come to find out, after a bit of research, that it is a multi cache and I didn't have all the info to complete it. So, will be better prepared next time.

Couple of Things...

It was a beautiful weekend and I feel like I got quite a bit done. We are getting the front yard ready to put in some new flower beds with some trees and stuff like that. There seems to be a lot of stuff to do. I like doing yard work, so hopefully I'll continued to enjoy it. On Saturday we went to Lowe's and spent 2 hours there. It was crazy, we were looking for a certain size of shed and they didn't carry it in the store. We did get a new microwave though, which is one of those over-the-stove ones, now I need to install it which could be a laughing matter. I think I'll be rolling tape on the old camcorder when I do it. We'll see what happens.

Last night on the ride home from the in-laws, the kids wanted a story. So I told them that Chels and I would tell them a story taking turns. It actually turned out to be a pretty good story and the kids liked it. It was cool, maybe I'll try to rewrite it on here sometime.

Well it's still early, before 8:00am, but I think it is time to do the Song of the Day Though I've only listened to 3 songs this morning I think I have one. It's a fun one from one of my daughter's favorite movies. Which I borrowed from my brother about a year ago probably. The song is from the movie Annie. The song is called It's the Hard-Knock Life. It's cute to hear my 2 year old sing it.

That's all for this post, but I know have a couple movie review to write so I'll work on it later.

Upon a Snowy Thursday in April

Snow sucks...have I said that before. Let spring come, please. Now I'm pleading for it. Anyway, I want to do a movie review today and I'm trying to decide if I just add it here or write a whole new blog for it. See the decisions I have to make in a day. HAHA. I think I'll write another one for the movie review and just do the Song of the Day here. I also want to talk about a cool extension I found by on Firefox for checking RSS feeds. It is called InfoRSS. If you are using this extension, shame on you for not sharing. If you don't know how to set up to get an RSS feed, let me know, I'll help where I can. Hobbes wrote about RSS in his blog a while back. Anyway, the way it works is you can set it up to automatically check on your favorite feeds to make sure you catch all the latest from you favorite RSS authors. InfoRSS takes a couple days to catch up and figure out what it is supposed to be pulling but for the most part, it's a pretty easy tool to play with. Firefox Extensions can be found here.

Now for the Song of the Day. So today I've listened to all of 5 songs with the meetings and whatnot I've had this morning, none of which have hit that status of Song of the Day. Let's play the skip till we find it. The song of the day is one that will usually point itself out within a couple of seconds of the playing of the song. So let's see how many skips it takes... Ok, I think I found it. A easy to listen to song that I think is a favorite of a lot of people. The live version, which is the actual one we are going to use, has a cool introduction. The song is by The Eagles and the song is Hotel California(Live) from the Hell Freezes Over cd. Time to chill and listen to the good music.

What a day...so far

Ok, so this has been one of those dragging days. I seem to be doing a little better now and I'm trying to put my finger on what it was. There is a break in the clouds and the sun is out, or was out for a few minutes. But since I don't really mind rain, after living in Ireland for a couple years, I don't think that really changed my mood. We just had a 10 minute visit with the baby doctor. I think that is a record, I'm contacting Guinness to see if it is a world record. The nice thing about the visit is that the doctor mentioned the change of due dates. Although most of the time you don't want a due date to change, I was excited because it put it due on my birthday. So if I hope enough, maybe it'll happen. Then I can forget my birthday, haha. That may have helped a little bit. We took a couple minutes and grabbed Chels a bite to eat and stoped for some soda's at Maverick. I got a Full Throttle Fury. Never had one of this kind before so I didn't know what to expect. But it is good. Kind of a catchy taste. I'm sure I'll have more of these. So I think it was a combination of the due date excitement, the Full Thorttle, and possibly the sun for a minute.

Now for the Song of the Day, I have had a hard time today because nothing has really struck me as being important enough or put me in a mood good enough for the Song of the Day. When Chels dropped me off I mentioned that I was listening to Avril Lavigne most of the day because she was better than what was playing on random, but nothing really struck me from that as Song of the Day material. Then right before I got out of the car, Gun's N Rose's was playing on the iPod, and I thought, 'That would be a good song for the Song of the Day'. Well when I came in I hit random again on the iTunes library and started looking for a good song. It took 3 skips to get today's Song of the Day. It is by Jack Johnson from the Curious George cd. It's called Upside Down. Probably my favorite song on that cd, even though the cd is good all the way through and has some good songs for kids. It also kind of defines the way today has felt...upside down. Got me in a good mood as I rocked out to it sitting in my cubicle. Thanks for listening.

Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday...

I feel crappy today. Well I have a stomach that is on fire. Fire I say. The Sprite I'm drinking is helping a lot. Other than that, today has been a pretty good day. I rode the bus into work and read like 50 pages in the first Harry Potter book. I've decided to start reading them again, just for the heck of it. So it will be fun to read it. Nothing else to report, except the Song of the Day.

Today's Song of the Day comes from a new cd that I got today. Well I got it on iTunes so technically it's not really a cd. Anyway, it's by the country group called Rascal Flatts and the song is called Backwards. So you may have heard the joke, what do you get when you play a country song backwards. Well this song explains it all, even down to the dog. It's about time a country group realized that country songs are all about losing stuff.

Movie Review Legend of Zorro

My motives for seeing this film were because of one line in the 2nd film from the trailer. Zorro's son makes a comment that I thought was pretty funny. Because of that, I wanted to see the 2nd show but thought it appropriate to see the first before I saw the 2nd. Go figure.

Anyway, not what I thought but a very good movie. From the previews that I remember, I originally though Anthony Hopkin's character to be the bad guy. (Not that I really paid attention, but I digress...)

Not an A+ movie, but it does have its funny parts. Hero's of all sorts have to have a comedic line on more than one occasion. The interaction between Catherine Zeta-Jones' character and Antonio Banderas character are hilarious but predictable. I like the choreography for the fight scenes but at no point do I feel that the bad guys may actually have the upper hand except at the beginning with Anthony Hopkin's character (can you tell I'm trying not to add any spoilers...)

I'm sure most have seen this but if you haven't, I would recommend the watch. Not an "I've got to have this for my collection" but it is a good Saturday night rental from the video store.

A Moment to Blog...

So my day has been really busy, and I've taken less time for "distractions" from work than usual. I haven't even done my daily Sudoku, weird. But I am listening to a song right now that I decided had to be the Song of the Day. Today has been one of those good music days, where my brain is very tolerant to all the music. But todays Song of the Day is from one of my top ten favorite albums in this world. (One day I'll have to blog my top 10, not today, not enough time.) So onto today's Song of the Day. It is Eye in the Sky, it is also the title to the album by The Alan Parson's Project. Great album, good song, check it out.

Good Weekend

This past weekend was actually pretty good. A few things were accomplished, some activities were done and I got to hold down my couch a bit also.

Saturday, Alythea had her training for Zoo Aide. It was pretty good for her. I think she's going to enjoy it. Her aquisition of new knowledge has given her a lot more to talk about and a new sparkle in her eye.

I took Niki and the other kids to the Zoo to celebrate Niki's b-day. It was a lot of fun. They took turns picking the animals they wanted to see and we went all over the zoo. After that, I took them to the playground where they had a lot of fun sliding, bouncing, climbing, and all the other things that make kids happy at a playground. The train had stopped running for a bit but while they were playing at the playground, the zoo train officials tested the track to see if it was dry enough to run and it was. So, the kids got a train ride to finish out their day at the zoo.

After that, I took the kids to get some lunch and we took it home and ate. They ended up taking naps while I watched some tv for a little while. Aly got home, we went shopping and got some movies. (BTW, I will do another blog on one of the movies called The Fog.)

Sunday we got up and relaxed a bit. Worked on some geocaching stuff and then got ready to go to Nicole's house to visit with mom and Bob and everyone else. It was a good time. Kids ran around, as usual. We bbq'ed, had cake and a general good time. Then we went home to finish getting ready to have cake/ice cream with the other half of the family. Watched another movie after that and then went to bed. (Almost should have a movie review website... The other movies was The Legend of Zorro.)

I enjoyed this weekend. The only bad thing about this weekend was the spring forward an hour for our clocks. I think Daylight Savings is a waste of time and unnecessary but that's just me.