Weekend Update
Some many events; so many activities.
My weekend started out nicely on Friday. Friday, at work, is business casual dress. I wore one of my birthday Tommy Bahama floral print shirts. It has a black background and I wore a black tee shirt to go with it. One of the men in the office gave me a “great shirt” shout-out in the morning.
I felt very good about that. Always nice to have others agree with your choices and selections.
I think it is going to be a long hot summer in some respects.
I was driving to see BATMAN BEGINS [more later about the film] this afternoon. I took the semi-scenic route through the beach communities of Hermosa, Manhattan, and Redondo Beaches. I was visually assaulted by young women that were dressed so wrongly. It was almost a crime against humanity, well male humanity anyway. I saw groups of young women wearing low cut jeans and belly shirts.
Normally, I do not care what someone chooses to wear. I don’t pay any attention to women’s styles since they change regularly anyway.
I have never thought that having a beer belly was particularly attractive on a man. You can understand my shock and surprise when these young women seemed to think it is just fine to walk about, sporting less than pretty beer-like bellies.
I don’t get it. Where is the attractiveness of a white roll of skin hanging over the top of a pair of jeans? Maybe I am too old for this. Maybe my ideas are out of touch with current society.
When you add in the recurring bad tats and body piercings, it just seems like it will be a long hot summer of unattractive women.
I could tell from watching MR. & MRS. SMITH that Angelina Jolie had some of her tats airbrushed out of the film. You can do this on the big screen but you can’t do that as easily on a body in real life in real time.
Oh well, wisdom is sometimes lost on the youth.
I saw a killer quote from Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle, this weekend. I wished I had written it down. It went like this, “making money is one of the major objectives of a business. Government’s major objective is to take as much of it as it can.”
Insightful and true. Excessive taxation can kill the golden goose just as easily as over production of golden eggs. Enough of my pro-business rant.
I saw BATMAN BEGINS Saturday afternoon on an IMAX screen.
EPIC!
The film just took my breath away. The visual impact of the crisp, extremely sharp 70mm print created the best visual experience in a cinema for me in a very, very long time; possibly the best visual experience in my life.
The Big Guy was dead solid right on when he told me to see it in the IMAX format. If you are going to see the film, then see it in the IMAX format if you have the opportunity to do so. It was more than well worth the extra ticket price.
The extra ticket price probably kept most all of the small children away. I think I only saw a handful of children in the large cinema. That’s another BIG plus in my mind.
I don’t care if you think I am a grumpy old man; maybe I am. I just want to enjoy the film I paid good money to see. I prefer not to be bothered by small children that may need attention during the showing of the film.
The IMAX sound system pounds out 12,000 watts of power. Even in the large, tall venue with that much power, the sound can get too loud for me. My ears were throbbing when I left the screening. The film sound volume could have toned a bit without losing anything in terms of overall enjoyment.
Now, I thought the fight scenes went on longer than necessary. I think they could have been cut a bit here and there and still produce a fine film. Doug, on the other hand, thought the fight scenes were the perfect length and would have been happier with a few more seconds in each one.
Everyone has his or her own views.
Doug sent me his mini-treatment and step outline to review on Saturday afternoon after I got home from the film. He had asked me to review his work so he could avoid making any grammatical mistakes that down grade his paper. I went over it and made maybe a dozen changes, splitting up a compound sentences or changing a verb tense, clearly nothing major in a 25 page long paper.
Today, I went to see LAND OF THE DEAD with the Big Guy. We both love zombie films.
But, first a minor digression.
I needed some cash so I went to the ATM at my credit union to pull out some money. I stopped at the traffic signal just before the credit union. I was stopped next to a convertible with three young people in it.
I guessed they were lost or confused because I could see the driver looking and folding and unfolding a map.
I knew they were lost when they followed my car across the intersection; they had been parked in a turn only lane and they did not turn.
I went ahead with the ATM withdrawal. They were stopped in the street, trying to figure out where they were and what they had to do to get there. I pulled up next to their car and rolled my window down.
I asked, “Excuse me, but are y’all lost by chance?”
The blond, female driver said, “Yes. We’re trying to get to the Health South Training Center. I should be right here.” They were off by about two blocks; but, with one way streets that can be a longer distance.
“I can give you directions on how to get there if you like.”
“We would be grateful if you could.” I gave them some simple directions, mostly all driving one or two blocks and making right turns. My directions were far from simple because, as the driver said, “I’m French and I am not understanding your directions. My English is not that good.”
Time for the cavalry to come to rescue of the lost travelers.
In my best Southern gentleman, I said to the French, “Y’all follow me, I will lead you there.” The driver’s face broke out in a big smile; the other two passengers seemed relieved to know they were going to find their way of their confusion.
I could see in my rear view mirror that the driver was less than certain that her decision was the best for her group. As we swung around what is a very large block, I could tell her confidence in following me was failing.
When we made our final turn, she was looking disparate until we turned into the training center parking lot. I stopped my car in the parking lot as she pulled up along side. It was the first time I had seen all of them smiling at the same time.
This was when I noticed the brunette in the back seat, she was grinning from ear to ear. I suppose she had come up with good directions that the driver ignored. It was pay back time for her maybe.
Anyway, I had places to go and things to do yet. “Y’all on your own now; enjoy the training center.”
The driver waved back and said, “Merci, thank you so very much.”
I turned my car around and headed off the O. C. to pick up the Big Guy and go see our zombie film. As I was rolling down the 405 Freeway, I wondered where these three young French people would remember an older American with a faded University of Utah baseball hat who went out of his way to help them when they were lost.
Who knows for sure? The Princess, who has never really liked the French, would have said, “No, daddy, they won’t remember you.”
Oh well, life goes on.
LAND OF THE DEAD is one of the best zombie films that I have seen in a very long time. The Big Guy said it had a large budget of $20 to $25 million. I don’t think too much went to the talent since most of them are B-listsers or unknowns. I do know they sunk a bunch of money into special effects, the blood, make-up, and bloody body parts were excellent.
This is not a film for those with weak constitutions or weak stomachs. It is a film for those of us who love the zombie genre. Today was the Big Guy’s third viewing of the film that opened on Thursday night at midnight. It was my first viewing. I will see it again, probably over the long 4th of July Independence Day Weekend.
The Big Guy and I had a prolonged discussion of the film afterwards. He pointed out several key cameos that I had missed. He also went into a discussion of the symbolism and some of the interpretations of George Romero’s work with the zombie film genre.
We also took time to go to Fatburger for lunch, always and excellent choice. We each had a Kingburger with everything, fries, and a medium drink. Fatburgers and a zombie film, what a perfect way to end the weekend.
And so gentle readers; be sure to go see LAND OF THE DEAD when it opens in your home town. We need to support the zombie film genre. I hope you had as much fun as I did this weekend.
Be well and stay happy.
My weekend started out nicely on Friday. Friday, at work, is business casual dress. I wore one of my birthday Tommy Bahama floral print shirts. It has a black background and I wore a black tee shirt to go with it. One of the men in the office gave me a “great shirt” shout-out in the morning.
I felt very good about that. Always nice to have others agree with your choices and selections.
I think it is going to be a long hot summer in some respects.
I was driving to see BATMAN BEGINS [more later about the film] this afternoon. I took the semi-scenic route through the beach communities of Hermosa, Manhattan, and Redondo Beaches. I was visually assaulted by young women that were dressed so wrongly. It was almost a crime against humanity, well male humanity anyway. I saw groups of young women wearing low cut jeans and belly shirts.
Normally, I do not care what someone chooses to wear. I don’t pay any attention to women’s styles since they change regularly anyway.
I have never thought that having a beer belly was particularly attractive on a man. You can understand my shock and surprise when these young women seemed to think it is just fine to walk about, sporting less than pretty beer-like bellies.
I don’t get it. Where is the attractiveness of a white roll of skin hanging over the top of a pair of jeans? Maybe I am too old for this. Maybe my ideas are out of touch with current society.
When you add in the recurring bad tats and body piercings, it just seems like it will be a long hot summer of unattractive women.
I could tell from watching MR. & MRS. SMITH that Angelina Jolie had some of her tats airbrushed out of the film. You can do this on the big screen but you can’t do that as easily on a body in real life in real time.
Oh well, wisdom is sometimes lost on the youth.
I saw a killer quote from Larry Ellison, CEO of Oracle, this weekend. I wished I had written it down. It went like this, “making money is one of the major objectives of a business. Government’s major objective is to take as much of it as it can.”
Insightful and true. Excessive taxation can kill the golden goose just as easily as over production of golden eggs. Enough of my pro-business rant.
I saw BATMAN BEGINS Saturday afternoon on an IMAX screen.
EPIC!
The film just took my breath away. The visual impact of the crisp, extremely sharp 70mm print created the best visual experience in a cinema for me in a very, very long time; possibly the best visual experience in my life.
The Big Guy was dead solid right on when he told me to see it in the IMAX format. If you are going to see the film, then see it in the IMAX format if you have the opportunity to do so. It was more than well worth the extra ticket price.
The extra ticket price probably kept most all of the small children away. I think I only saw a handful of children in the large cinema. That’s another BIG plus in my mind.
I don’t care if you think I am a grumpy old man; maybe I am. I just want to enjoy the film I paid good money to see. I prefer not to be bothered by small children that may need attention during the showing of the film.
The IMAX sound system pounds out 12,000 watts of power. Even in the large, tall venue with that much power, the sound can get too loud for me. My ears were throbbing when I left the screening. The film sound volume could have toned a bit without losing anything in terms of overall enjoyment.
Now, I thought the fight scenes went on longer than necessary. I think they could have been cut a bit here and there and still produce a fine film. Doug, on the other hand, thought the fight scenes were the perfect length and would have been happier with a few more seconds in each one.
Everyone has his or her own views.
Doug sent me his mini-treatment and step outline to review on Saturday afternoon after I got home from the film. He had asked me to review his work so he could avoid making any grammatical mistakes that down grade his paper. I went over it and made maybe a dozen changes, splitting up a compound sentences or changing a verb tense, clearly nothing major in a 25 page long paper.
Today, I went to see LAND OF THE DEAD with the Big Guy. We both love zombie films.
But, first a minor digression.
I needed some cash so I went to the ATM at my credit union to pull out some money. I stopped at the traffic signal just before the credit union. I was stopped next to a convertible with three young people in it.
I guessed they were lost or confused because I could see the driver looking and folding and unfolding a map.
I knew they were lost when they followed my car across the intersection; they had been parked in a turn only lane and they did not turn.
I went ahead with the ATM withdrawal. They were stopped in the street, trying to figure out where they were and what they had to do to get there. I pulled up next to their car and rolled my window down.
I asked, “Excuse me, but are y’all lost by chance?”
The blond, female driver said, “Yes. We’re trying to get to the Health South Training Center. I should be right here.” They were off by about two blocks; but, with one way streets that can be a longer distance.
“I can give you directions on how to get there if you like.”
“We would be grateful if you could.” I gave them some simple directions, mostly all driving one or two blocks and making right turns. My directions were far from simple because, as the driver said, “I’m French and I am not understanding your directions. My English is not that good.”
Time for the cavalry to come to rescue of the lost travelers.
In my best Southern gentleman, I said to the French, “Y’all follow me, I will lead you there.” The driver’s face broke out in a big smile; the other two passengers seemed relieved to know they were going to find their way of their confusion.
I could see in my rear view mirror that the driver was less than certain that her decision was the best for her group. As we swung around what is a very large block, I could tell her confidence in following me was failing.
When we made our final turn, she was looking disparate until we turned into the training center parking lot. I stopped my car in the parking lot as she pulled up along side. It was the first time I had seen all of them smiling at the same time.
This was when I noticed the brunette in the back seat, she was grinning from ear to ear. I suppose she had come up with good directions that the driver ignored. It was pay back time for her maybe.
Anyway, I had places to go and things to do yet. “Y’all on your own now; enjoy the training center.”
The driver waved back and said, “Merci, thank you so very much.”
I turned my car around and headed off the O. C. to pick up the Big Guy and go see our zombie film. As I was rolling down the 405 Freeway, I wondered where these three young French people would remember an older American with a faded University of Utah baseball hat who went out of his way to help them when they were lost.
Who knows for sure? The Princess, who has never really liked the French, would have said, “No, daddy, they won’t remember you.”
Oh well, life goes on.
LAND OF THE DEAD is one of the best zombie films that I have seen in a very long time. The Big Guy said it had a large budget of $20 to $25 million. I don’t think too much went to the talent since most of them are B-listsers or unknowns. I do know they sunk a bunch of money into special effects, the blood, make-up, and bloody body parts were excellent.
This is not a film for those with weak constitutions or weak stomachs. It is a film for those of us who love the zombie genre. Today was the Big Guy’s third viewing of the film that opened on Thursday night at midnight. It was my first viewing. I will see it again, probably over the long 4th of July Independence Day Weekend.
The Big Guy and I had a prolonged discussion of the film afterwards. He pointed out several key cameos that I had missed. He also went into a discussion of the symbolism and some of the interpretations of George Romero’s work with the zombie film genre.
We also took time to go to Fatburger for lunch, always and excellent choice. We each had a Kingburger with everything, fries, and a medium drink. Fatburgers and a zombie film, what a perfect way to end the weekend.
And so gentle readers; be sure to go see LAND OF THE DEAD when it opens in your home town. We need to support the zombie film genre. I hope you had as much fun as I did this weekend.
Be well and stay happy.
posted by Chuck Reinhardt at 5:55 PM
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