dawn and dusk

Dawn and Dusk are getting cuter and cuter by the day. They have grown so much as well. When they came home we could have lifted them up in the palm of our hands. Now, we can still hold them up in the palm of our hands but more and more of their body hangs out over our hands.

One thing that we have found with the two furballs is that, like all babies, they are at their cutest when they are asleep. When they are awake they are always climbing over us, clawing at our backs and legs and climbing up our legs trying to get attention. Asleep they are like little angels of peace and cuteness. Here are three pictures to show their cuteness in their sleep.



This next one I like to title "Holding The Dream Tight":



However, so sweet and cute in their sleep, but once they are awake...well, take a look at the cheekiness of our little Dusk. I think he is getting tired of us playing with him or taking his photo:

The Men Who Stare At Goats

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1234548/

Not really sure how to rate this film. It wasnt totally stupid, but then again it wasnt really hilariously funny. I guess the trailers for me had me hoping for more but what I got was just normal.

Story is of a small town journalist who wants to prove himself as a serious journalist to make his ex-wife (who left him for his editor) jealous and all...wow, dont really see that happening huh? I know, this is based on a real story and in fact there is a disclaimer at the beginning of the film saying that 'more parts of this film are real than you would like to believe'. Anyways, said reporter goes over to the middle east and meets up with a retired 'jedi warrior' that has been trained by the US army. They go in to a war zone to do a 'mission' that the jedi warrior will not talk about and you are subjected to the jedi training that the agent got while being trained by the gov't. To give you a taste of the training, one scene involves how by using the power of his mind he shows the reporter how the agent instills a sense of fear and dread in the reporter so high that the reporter can not attack the agent. The reporter then experiences something that makes him totally incapable of attacking the agent, thus proving his jedi strengths...granted, it could also have been the arm grab and judo flip that put the reporter on his butt and the agents foot on the reporters throat but it has to be the mind strength of the agent.

What made this film enjoyable to watch was how the agent truly believed his jedi strengths and abilities and the look of amazment that someone could be as stupid to believe this. I found it amusing having talked to people who believe so totally with tarot cards, ESP, Sylvia Browne and other mental con artists out there and I could see these people in the agent.

I really wouldnt recommend this movie at full price but would suggest seeing it at the cheap seats or possibly just wait for the video and get it from the library.

Dusk is sleepy

time for some Dusk stories. Dusk is our little male kitty and he has to be the most adventurous and adorable furball we have. Just the other day we had to de-worm them so we put Dawn in one bathroom and Dusk in another. It seems that we had to dab the deworming liquid on the back of their heads and leave them in different rooms cause they would lick the stuff off each other if they were together. Dawn was quiet and all but Dusk found his voice and meowed relentlessly. The Mrs had to use the bathroom and decided to go to the one with Dusk in it cause he was meowing so she thought she would keep him company. She went into the bathroom, raised the lid on the toilet and before she could sit down or do anything Dusk had jumped up and into the toilet. The Mrs thinks it was cause he figured it was an escape route out of the room. He went in and his four paws hit water and quick as he went in he came flying out. We only wish that we had video or pictures of the event.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BK7P5s0vFPY



here is a link, and hopefully the actual video, of Dusk. One thing that we have learned about our furballs is that they seem to have endless amounts of energy to run and play but once that energy runs out it is like a car running out of gas. They will just drop whereever they are and go to sleep. Just last night we were watching The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button and Dusk had climbed up on to the Mrs lap when he started to close his eyes and doze off. We kept waking him up and he would look at us and then go back to sleep again. Here is one clip of him dozing off. We have another one where his head actually goes all the way back and then gravity takes over and it slowly rolls down to the right before he snaps out of it and wakes up. Needless to say, he is adorable when he sleeps.

The Fourth Kind

There are four kinds of bad movies. When movies are bad and you sense that they are going to be bad, that is the first kind; when movies are bad and you see evidence that they are bad, that is the second kind; when movies are really bad and you actually see it in person, that is the third kind; when a movie is really really bad and you are abducted to go and see it by another person, that...that is The Fourth Kind.

Ok, maybe I am getting a little melodramatic about this review. We went and saw The Fourth Kind (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1220198/) last night. Basically it is a 'real' account with real footage taken by a psychologist working up in Nome, Alaska back in 2000. It basically is a movie that tells what happened leading up to a moment of terror in the lives of the psychiatrist and the people surrounding her studies. There are scenes that show the actors portraying the actual people and there are often split screen shots where you see the actors sitting in the same position on the right as the 'real' life footage on the left of that actual event that happened back in 2000. The director even synced the voice of the two splits together to the point that they are almost talking in stereo.

For this film there are a couple of aspects to consider. First off, there is the hype and selling point of saying that the film is 'based on real events and backed up by actual audio and video footage' of the event. So, you go in with a case of 'wow, this is real...this is some freaky stuff happening'. However, as posted on the IMDB "Alaska state licensing examiner Jan Mays says she can't find records of an Abigail Tyler ever being licensed in any profession in Alaska. Ron Adler, CEO and director of the Alaska Psychiatric Institute and Denise Dillard, president of the Alaska Psychological Association say they've never heard of Abigail Tyler." There are a few other things in the movie that popped up that had me going "ok, fake" but won't spoil the illusion of it, after all I am just a cynic :-) .

However, take away the hype of the 'real' footage and you are left with a mediocre film with pretty unbelievable acting and story line that would rate it in the area of a B-rated horror flick of the past. I think, however, that might be the one saving praise point that this movie might have in its arsenal. The way that the movie was shot (with the split screens and the 'actual' audio footage) along with the 'testimonies' of the 'real' psychologist Abigail Tyler, this B-rated horror flick actually might be considered to have a higher grade. Nothing more than a B+ rated movie, but still, higher than a B.

For this movie, I would definitly say don't waste time or money in the real theatre but wait to rent it on DVD or, even better, wait for your community library to get it in their collection and borrow it for free and perhaps then in the extras there will be more 'real' video or audio feeds of the abductions and you can have more of a laugh.

Surrogates and Wild Things

Another couple of movie reviews, or at least not reviews but my opinion on the movies.

Where The Wild Things Are (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386117/): Based on the children's book of the same title, it follows a young boy who is out of control in behavior that goes to a far off land full of 'wild things' like himself where he can be free. I remember this book from when I was a young'un and was looking forward to seeing how they managed to lengthen the book. While it does stick to a little bit of the book, there are some changes as expected there to be. However, I found that you really can not take a 20 page children's book (which about 6 pages are pure pictures with no writing, and the other 14 pages have only one sentence on each page) and turn it into a full length feature film. I found this movie to be extremely slow and boring. One could read into the whole symbolic issue of the Wild Things in that they are all pretty much some aspect of an average human personality and the one dominant personality of the Wild Things is the uncontrolled anger that Max (the young boy) shows more often than the others. Even the size of the wild things are sort of related to how strong or prevalent the personality in the boy exist. It has some interesting aspects in that regard but if you are looking for a good time movie to watch, definitely not one in my books.

Surrogates (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0986263/): Bruce Willis plays a cop in a future world where people live and work by using body robots called 'surrogates' while the people stay safe at home in their chairs. You can be anyone or do anything without fear of attack, hurt or death. it all seems like a perfect world until the destruction of a surrogate causes the death of the user making it the first homicide in years. Willis goes about solving the mystery as what is happening and has to deal with both the surrogate users of the world plus the revolutionary band of humans that reject the use of the surrogates. Both the Mrs and I found this to be a good film. Good action, good twists and turns and who can deny the acting ability of Bruce Willis. Figure he is one actor that can spend 45 minutes running through a building, shooting bad guys and doing death defying leaps while mortally wounded and giving witty/glib side comments to the bad guys and then spend the next 20 minutes spilling his characters emotions and feelings and actually make you shed a tear for the guy. There were, of course as always in movies, a few things that made me ask 'why did that happen? what about that? you mean they did that cause of this??? seriously???' but other than that it was a good movie. I would say a movie worth spending the money and seeing.

Though speaking of movies, why are we going through such apocalyptic movies coming out in the next few months? 2012 (An epic adventure about a global cataclysm that brings an end to the world and tells of the heroic struggle of the survivors.), The Book Of Eli (A post-apocalyptic tale, in which a lone man fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind.), The Road (A post-apocalyptic tale of a man and his son trying to survive by any means possible) and Legion (After a terrifying biblical apocalypse descends upon the world, a group of strangers stranded in a remote truck stop diner in the Southwest unwittingly become humanity's last line of defense when they discover the diner's young waitress is pregnant with the messiah) to name only a few that come to mind. Why is that Hollywood seems to find a theme for movies and then run it into the ground with all the new releases about that thing. Wasn't it just a while back that superhero movies became the 'thing' and we were swamped with everything from Batman to the Hulk to Fantastic 4. Oh well, guess I will just enjoy the movies that come out and hope that they don't stink too badly.

GPS

I had my first ride in a car that had a GPS unit up and running. I have to say that they are a rather cool device. Though, of course, we all know what happens when I let my mind start to wander and think of things that it shouldn't.

I loved the way that the voice kept telling directions on what to do and where to turn. We would be driving along and all of a sudden an Australian woman would say "turn left on 170 st next 700 metres". Was so neat and funky. Of course, I kept thinking that the GPS was a little too polite, especially when the driver missed a turn here or there and decide to take a quicker route. The GPS just loaded up the map again and kept repeating 'calculating' until it gave an alternate route and then would tell where to turn again to maximize the driving route for that moment in time. I guess I have had a few rather more impolite navigators cause I kept expecting to hear the GPS system say something like "hey, lunk head, you missed the turn...try again in 300 metres" or "why do I even bother giving you directions cause you never listen" or "oh sure, you know best, dont listen to me...you never listen to me".

I think that these GPS systems would definitly sell better if it had a bit more realistic personality.

things that women can do/say and men can't

I have always joked about the Mrs habit of taking photos of babies or kids that are not her own. I would often say to her about how she often had enough pictures of babies to fill at least 5 photo albums and she hadn't even given birth to any of them. Many times we would be walking through the streets of Singapore and she would see kids playing in fountains or on the street and her camera would be out and she would be snapping pictures like mad.

I figure this is something that a man can not do but a woman could do. After all, if you see a woman snapping pictures of babies and kids then you think motherly instincts and no one bats an eye. A guy takes a picture of strangers kids on a playground or fountain and he is instantly a pedophile or some sick pervert and is questioned by the police or even the parents in the playground and probably asked to leave immediately.

I was also laughing at things that a woman can say that a man could definitely not get away with. We went to a friends house on Halloween for a little party and her sister was getting in to the whole mood of the Halloween spirit by dressing up and doing the 'scary' things for the little kids. They had their front yard covered in cardboard grave stones, ghosts hanging from a tree, a brain lit in a jar on the table and even the 'cobwebs' of cotton hanging around to give it an eerie appearance. Whenever trick or treaters came to the door they had to reach in and touch the items that they had in this little container. It held a sort of plastic/soft rubber ear and two fingers. In itself that really is not bad, right? The kicker was in the way that she presented it to the kids that would get smiles and giggles from the parents that were with them but if a guy was to say it and the parents were looking out at the street, I am sure many a butt would have been kicked. She would open the door, look at them and say "I want you to touch something!" Oh yeah, I heard that from the other room and nearly choked on my M&M.

the furballs

Well here are the two little furballs. Dawn has opened up nicely and started to trust us somewhat. She still freezes and will dart if you stand close to her and dont grab her in that 2 seconds time frame but she will now jump up onto the bed in the morning and play. Dusk is still his explorer self, full of wonder and amusement. They have also both taken to going anywhere that we are going. If I am in the bedroom and coming to the living room I have the constant pitter patter of the little horses as they run up the hall trying to catch up to me to make sure they know exactly where I am. Nice to have little furballs in the house again.

movie reviews

Guess since there is nothing new to report from camp, and wont be for a while, guess I will go to something else. Movie reviews. Here are some reviews of movies, old and new, that we have watched over the last week and a half.

The Boy In The Striped Pajamas (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0914798/) : Some would say that this is a holocaust film while others would say that it is more of a family drama that just happened to be set in the area of the holocaust. I would say that it was a 'coming of age' story of a young boy growing up in a time of confusion from the other side of the fence from what I have learned to expect from the age. Basically it is about a young boy whose father is in charge of one of the 'work camps' during the world war. The family is shielded from the real job that the father has and the boy goes exploring and comes across the camp and befriends a boy on the other side of the fence in striped 'pajamas' and spend their time talking through the fence. It was a rather powerful movie which I enjoyed a lot. Even though the boy actor really didnt have that many powerful lines or emotions, his eyes said all that needed to be said in most of his scenes. We got this one on DVD from the library and I do highly recommend it as a moving movie to see.

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1356380/ ): This is more a TV series than it is a movie but since it was on DVD that we watched it from the library, and it was soooo good, I thought I would mention it. It is about a divorced woman in Africa who starts up a detective agency and makes friends in the 'big city' that she is now living in. The acting is really good, the story (taken from a book series by Alexander McCall Smith) has been well preserved from the book to show, and the casting is really amazing keeping the personality of the characters in the bodies of the people. So many times I read a book and picture the people in my mind and then when it goes to a movie the dumpy and friendly motor mechanic is now being playing by Brad Pitt and you just look and go "WHAT???" This is not one of those books to shows. I hope that it comes to a 2nd or 3rd season but I agree with others assessment that it probably won't see any more seasons since it has no nudity, no swearing, no gun shots/blood/gore or even sex scandals or other things that are on TV today. This is a good and wholesomely pure show that has more intellect than skin.

Weird Science (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090305/ ): an oldie but a goodie. Two nerds create a woman by using their computer and, with her help and some magic, discover their inner selves. Yes yes, I know, a total cliche and total 80's flick but still a good one. Many good laughs in it.

Paranormal Activity (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1179904/): This had to be one of the most disappointing films that I have seen. I had it confused going in to it by the Mrs thinking that some of it would be actual footage of a haunting. Turns out that it was all faked. It is sort of like a Blair Witch Project meets Ghost Hunters. Story line goes that a girlfriend is living with her boyfriend and she has had sort of strange sightings and feelings all her life. The usual things like shadows in her room at night, strange footsteps and breathing, noises and things moving when she is out of the room. Her boyfriend brings in a video camera to document the whole thing as they sort of antagonize the 'spirit' into showing itself. Turns out the thing is a demon and many strange things are caught on tape that had the characters (as well as a few really skittish ladies in the audience) freaking out. Turns out the group that I went to the movie with saw this movie to be really boring and annoying to watch. About the only thing of amusment we got from the movie was that apparently the main male character sounded a lot like me in many cases. Like when they have heard footsteps, walls being hit, keys moving, doors opening and closing and finally footsteps appearing by an invisible walker through baby powder on the floor he exclaims many times to the camera and his girlfriend "I have everything under control". Personally, I disagree with this statement with the defence that if I had all that happen to me and actually see footprints appear in baby powder on the floor out of thin air, I don't care who is in the house, if they are there and don't want to leave they are on their own cause I got no control. But since I don't believe in ghosts/hauntings/spirits, that ain't gonna happen. If I could say that if you are going to watch one movie in the next few months, make sure this is NOT even close to the list that you are considering.

The Invention Of Lying (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1058017/ ): Here is another one that I obviously missed the intention of. Most people I talked to seemed to think that this was an amazingly refreshing and funny show. Personally, I found it annoying, boring and just plain stupid. A world where everyone tells the plain out simple truth, which apparently has made them lose their sense of feeling hurt or angry, suddenly gets one citizen that can actually tell a..well...a...there is not a word for it but he can tell "what isn't". While the idea of living in a world of total honesty would be time saving (definitly know whether or not to ask a woman out when the first thing they say to you in a bar is "I am definitly not attracted to you in any way but will go out with you for a free dinner and drinks") and know where you stand (hearing from someone you think is your friend "I hate you but you have a car that I need to get to work so will be friendly to you") it is just annoying to watch. After all, I can see living in a world where you speak the truth but only when you are asked. Why would anyone willingly want to blurt out exactly what they are thinking at every single moment in their life? I am obviously missing the point of this movie cause I found the story to be blah, the acting to be cardboard and 2 dimensional and the whole idea to be something of total stupidity.

Law Abiding Citizen (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1197624/ ): Man loses his family in a home invasion and the DA makes a deal with one of the accused, saving him from the death penalty, because the DA doesn't want to risk going to trial and losing his 97% conviction rate. 10 years later the husband emerges and starts an execution of his own on all the officials in the justice system he feels wronged him and his dead wife and child. The build up in this movie is great, Jamie Foxx and Gerard Butler are great in their roles and the plot/story line to this film are both brilliant. The only complaint about this film is that the ending is really weak. While I can see the reason why they went with the ending, I definitly walked out of there going "but but but..." and wanting more of an ending. A movie with enough twists and turns to make you ask why he did this or that but still is easy enough for you to realize that the puzzle pieces are there for you to solve what is happening.

Whip It (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1172233/ ): A directorial debut of Drew Barrymore about a beauty pagent girl in a small town who chooses to go in to the roller derby scene behind her parents back. I found this film to be a really enjoyable and watchable film. It is almost strange since for some reason the acting is sort of blandish in parts and there were multiple flaws that make me scratch my head and go "WTH???!?!", for example, the 17 year old girl joins the roller derby by telling the coach she is 22, but she doesnt seem to have to produce any documentation or anything to the coach or roller derby league to prove her claim. Nice to know that the underground roller derby league is so trusting that you don't have to actually prove anything but they take tattooed, toothless people at their words. I was able to look past this and just enjoy the movie and the personal characters that were invovled. I think that for her first time in the director chair, Drew Barrymore did a really good job.

So yeah, there are a few movies that we have watched in the last few days. Luckily we had a deal with a 2 for 1 deal and using the cheap coupons from AMA really helped as well. Not to mention buying the popcorn combo with the free refills and keep going back for more refills.