Movies

I saw movies! In keeping with my tradition of seeing as many movies as I can while I take a break from work, here are the reviews. Yes, I know you have been on the edge of your seat waiting (and if you weren't please keep it to yourself, I like to think I have some importance in life).

First off, Precious. OMG do not see this movie if you don't want to be depressed for the rest of your life. On the other hand, if Mo'Nique doesn't get an Oscar for her performance then there is nothing right in the world.









Next, I saw Brothers. This movie wasn't really uplifting either. It's about the horrible things that happen when you fight in a war. It was good to see Natalie Portman. I have always liked her.








Moving on... 2012. Now that I'm writing about these movies it doesn't seem like I saw anything with a good message. Just wait. Anyway, I don't think the world will end in 2012 so I wasn't afraid to see this movie. I really wanted to see the special effects. They were awesome! Oh, and the world didn't end at the end of this movie for all of you who missed the movie. I don't think that spoiled it for you.








Next stop, Avatar. This movie was excellent! Really, really excellent. I went with Pretty Girl before Pretty Teacher came into town (which PT wasn't too happy about!). We both loved it. We didn't see the 3-D version. If you haven't seen it I recommend you see it in 3-D. Pretty Teacher went to see it last night and said the 3-D effects were incredible. I can't recommend the 3-D IMAX experience because I'm afraid it may make me sick to my stomach. If you have a strong stomach it may be the way to go.

I love a movie that points fingers at wrong-doers and this movie makes it's point on many levels. Not sure the conservative crowd will think the same.




After Avatar I saw A Christmas Story (see previous post).

Then, I watched 500 Days of Summer. Meh! Pretty Teacher liked it. I thought it was just ok.











Next up...All About Steve. Yeah, I know, it looked stupid and it was. I just thought I would give it a try. Sandra Bullock can never make two good movies in a row. I mostly watched it for Bradley Cooper. Nothin' wrong with him!










The Kingdom was the next movie. I was pretty sure that I had seen this movie before but I thought I never finished it. Well, I had finished it but it was fun to see the familiar sights in the movie. This movie wasn't uplifting but the good guys did prevail. Yay! I love when that happens.










The Pretty's and I drove up to Scottsdale to see A Single Man. It's not widely released yet. Well, I got the time wrong and didn't feel like waiting around so we drove back to our part of the valley and saw Did You Hear About the Morgans?


I had heard this movie wasn't very good but I love Sarah Jessica Parker and High Grant. I liked this movie. It was pretty good. Sam Elliot is in it also and he was always a favorite of mine in westerns. Hugh Grant is always funny. The Pretty's and I were trying to figure out if he's funny because of his accent. I say it's his sense of humor and wondered if he contributed any dialog.







Last, but not least...Invictus. When I first started watching this movie I was wondering who the Captain of the rugby team was. Then I realized it was Matt Damon. I really liked this movie. Since I didn't know much about this historic era I didn't know the outcome. I was glad it came out the way it did.

Well, that's it for now. I still have some time left before I head back to work. Maybe I can squeeze a couple more movies in before then. It didn't seem like this holiday movie season was as good as last year and I'm still wondering where the heck is Will Smith?

It's Official!

I know you will find this hard to believe but I have never seen the movie A Christmas Story. I know, I know, but you have to understand that I don't have cable. I have heard stories that it plays around the clock Christmas Eve or Christmas Day or something like that on cable. I'm not sure why one would want to watch it over and over again but I guess enough people do.

Tonight, Pretty Girl is getting together with the Home Owner and his family and she said they were going to watch it. Well, not to be out done, I said I would find it on the Internet and finally see it. And I did. And it was good. And it was funny. I thought that the whole BB Gun scene was anti-climatic. Once he got the gun, that he had been obsessing over for so long, and shot the one shot that was about it for the gun.

My favorite parts were when Ralphie beat up the bully, Randy eating like a pig and the wait-staff in the Chinese restaurant singing Christmas Carols.

So for all of you that have cable, don't watch A Christmas Story over and over and over... it'll put your eye out!

When Adults do Child-like Things

One day at Costco Pretty Girl asked if we could make a Gingerbread House. It was so sweet that she still wanted to do such things at her age. Of course I bought it. Then, a week or so ago, the Home Owner and Pretty Girl sat down to start the assembly. I, of course, looked on giving my opinions, which I'm sure only annoyed them.


















The tree turned out to be a little stubborn...


















We all tasted the broken pieces and they were surprisingly good!


















The kit came with everything you need, lots of candy...


















Pretty Girl used her steady hands and artistic talent to carefully apply the frosting...


















As you can see, adults have the same attention span as children and we all soon got bored with the project. This is as far as they got and we were all good with the unfinished result. It's all good!

Oh My God I Can't Stand it Another Minute!!

Ok, so I know we don't get a lot of rain but GD Arizona, is weather really (REALLY!) the top story of the news??? Tonight it was the top story for 10 freaking minutes. I can't stand it. I know for a fact that there are more important things to talk about than a little rain. There, okay, I said it. A little rain. The news stations have been talking up this storm for a week and I have to tell ya... I'm a little disappointed. I don't think it rained that much. We'll see if tonight's storm brings more that wind.

Some Holidays AND Cake in a Bowl

We did celebrate some holidays at my house, I just haven't posted about it. So here you go...

Pretty Girl and the Home Owner carved up some Pumpkins for Halloween.



































We had the usual Thanksgiving and I wanted to make the same cakes I did last year. One reason was the toffee cake came out perfectly last year so I wanted to have an old standby.



















The other reason was because my beautiful Chocolate Peppermint cake ended up in a bowl last year. All was going good until it started to break apart and slide off the plate. I thought I used the wrong cake pans, well, ok, I did use the wrong cake pans so I wanted to make it with the correct cake pans. Our favorite pastry chef lent me the proper pans and I baked the cake. It was a little iffy cutting the two layers in two but I accomplished that.

Here is the infamous bowl, on stand by, just in case.


















Here is the chocolate and white peppermint ganaches...



































And here is the marshmallow-like peppermint frosting. That's right my friends, there are three, count 'em, three frostings!!



















And then, all of a sudden, BAM!! All hell broke loose, I couldn't take pictures of it cuz my hands were busy, so here is the finished product...


















That's right, Cake in a bowl. DAMMIT! I'm not sure this cake can be made without it. At this point I don't care. This is what I did with the recipe...


















And here is Pretty Girl holding it while we drive to our Thanksgiving feast...


















Everyone loved it. They said they didn't want it any other way but in the bowl. So they all got there Thanksgiving wish. I will never attempt this concoction again. Next year...something new and different, I'm thinking a pumpkin chocolate dessert. We'll see.

AND ANOTHER THING....

Why is it that a television program is listed as starting at 8:00 p.m. and it actually starts at 7:58 p.m.? That is not 8:00 p.m. Just so you know!

MJ

So, I went to see This is It, the Michael Jackson movie. I have to tell you, it was awesome. He was amazing! He really was a genius. It made me sad all over again that he is gone. I think, if that movie comes out on video, I'll buy it.

The movie was about the rehearsals he did before what was to be his last tour in England. I guess all the shows were sold out. His producer called him MJ. Just the other night I watched the interview with Janet Jackson. She called him Mike. That seemed strange to me. No reason really.

When Michael rehearsed with his back up dancers they were more winded than he was. He always was a skinny adult but it was fascinating to me that he might be in better shape than the dancers. He always seemed to sickly. And what was up with the tape on his fingertips all the time? That always bugged me.

They were re-doing a great video for Thriller. Who didn't know how to dance to Thriller, or wish they could? He still had Vincent Price as the voice over but they filmed all the Zombies and dead people in 3-D. Very cool.

He was an amazing person, strange, but amazing. He will be missed.

Secret Service

Ok, it's time to get serious. I've been pretty bored lately, as you could tell, no good posts, or any posts for that matter. Now, I have to tell you KEZ started their Christmas music today. it's been this huge secret. Thank god they didn't start it the first of November. It was a complete secret as to when they would start that. I'm okay with telling you, I'm not ready for it, I think because of the weather. I drove home tonight and saw Christmas lights in the neighborhood. PEOPLE, IT'S NOT EVEN THANKSGIVING!!

You all have to help me out. I'm pretty sure the holidays are going to creep up on me and I won't be ready. Which is really weird, I'm usually all over the holidays. But the weather has really thrown me for a loop. It's really not holiday weather.

Work is so cold in the morning that we all huddle in a mass. Then in the afternoon we are fine. This happens every year but we seem to forget the the Phoenix Metropolitan area can have a 40 degree difference in the winter and a 20 degree difference in the summer.

Whatever. I'm not ready for the holidays and that's all I can say!

Baked or Fry's?

I can't figure it out. I'm very stressed that my neighborhood Fry's will inconvenience me if they strike Friday. Safeway may strike too. I don't want to have to shop at Alberson's. I'm not a fan. I know the stores won't close because they are hiring people at $9.50 an hour to cross the picket line and work.

I agree that Corporate shouldn't make them pay between $5 and $15 a week for health insurance when they have never paid for that before. Most of the checkers make between $7 and $12 dollars an hour (according to the media) and that added expense seems too much. They should be eased into it.

Since I hate to grocery shop I'm afraid if I go into the store and fill my cart the long lines will make me just walk out, even though I need the essentials (like low fat wheat thins, coffee creamer and dry roasted peanuts, possibly milk for Pretty Girl). I did that at Costco the day before school started. The lines went all they way back into the books! That's too many people.

I'm not good in a crowd or at the mall. Crowds make me feel clostrophobic. I always feel I'll never get out of there. I have a fear of gas stations too. I'm afraid I will fall victim to a drive by shooting. I can't explain it.

So I'll just wait and see what happens. In the meantime I'll stock up on the essentials tomorrow, Veteran's Day. Good thing I'm off work.

What's Scary?

So I changed my Facebook profile picture to Cousin Jim from the new Jack in the Box commercial.



Pretty Girl said it was scary and Pretty Teacher dislikes it. I happen to adore Cousin Jim. I don't know why! Probably the same reason I was so enamored with Heath Ledger as Joker in the Batman movie.
























He looks good to me!

I remember when the Pretty's were younger and they wanted to watch a scary movie. I rented the Birds by Alfred Hitchcock.

















That movie still scares me and I can't ever see birds on a power line without getting the chills. I'm not too fond of seagulls either! Anyway, they didn't think it was scary at all.

I guess what's scary to one person isn't necessarily scary to the next. For instance, some people love William Shatner. I can't stand to look at the man! He scares me!

I guess with Halloween coming up there will be way more scary stuff to look at. I'll let you know.

Soap on a Rope

The other day I overheard someone say soap on a rope. It made me thing back to when I was a kid and all the Christmases that I got soap on a rope and how cool I thought it was. But now I'm thinking what was the purpose of soap on a rope and why were kids so happy when they got it?

Pretty Teacher Trip

I went to Connecticut, on a plane. This is quite a feat for me since I hate to fly, but it is faster than driving! Anyway, I went to visit Pretty Teacher. One can't fly directly to her or even into her town. I flew from Phoenix to Baltimore and then from Baltimore to Hartford. Pretty Teacher lives in the same town Yale is in, which is about an hour drive from the Hartford airport.

This is a picture of the private jet I wished I was in when this man sat next to me on the plane who didn't smell very good.


















I took a lot of pictures from the plane of all the pretty trees. We don't have that here in the god forsaken desert. Sure, you can go up north to see the trees turn color but it only lasts a couple hours. Yes, I know, that is a slight exaggeration.




















































Pretty Teacher picked me up from the airport and we began the drive to her town. Hartford has this odd building so I thought I would take a picture of it. Locals call it the Aladdin Building.



































We arrived in her town and I think I took a picture of every tree there. No, I won't make you look at them all but here are a couple.



































I also took a lot of pictures of the houses because they are so different for the stucco and tile houses here. And yes, I am going to make you look at all of them.















































































We went downtown to walk around. When work is being done on a building it is wrapped with netting so falling debris doesn't hurt anyone.























We parked and walked around Yale.













































This is the freshman dorm at Yale.


















This is the oldest building on the Yale campus.


















Oh look, more pictures of trees!


























































One morning we got up and drove to an apple orchard where you pick your own apples. This is the road to the orchard.




















































This is Pretty Teacher in the cart that is pulled by the tractor that takes you out to the orchards.























And here she is picking apples.




















































Here is a picture of a frog that I thought was a leaf until it started hopping.


















We picked two big bags of apples. Many of you are probably wondering what in the world were we going to do with two big bags of apples. Well...


















There are still a ton of apples left. I think Pretty Teacher is beginning to make every meal with an apple theme.

Oh look, more houses.



































And of course, more trees!

























































Pretty Teacher's roommate and boyfriend got a pumpkin while they were out and began to carve it.


















We went to a party at one of Pretty Teacher's friends. Here is the whole gang.


















This is Pretty Teacher and her BFFs.


















What a surprise, more trees!








































I had a great time and wish it wasn't so far away or that the airlines would make it more affordable to fly. Seriously, can the airlines not figure out that if they lowered their prices more people would fly?