The Dark Knight

This was a very good movie! It did live up to the hype!

This is a movie that was better than the trailers showed. The chemistry between Bale and Ledger was just combustible to watch and you kept waiting for it to explode!

Gary Oldman was astounding once again as Jim Gordon and you just want this man to be your relative. He is rock solid and someone you can just trust. A far cry from his portrayal of Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy.

Aaron Eckhart was outstanding as Harvey Dent/Two Face. In fact there really wasn't a weak link in the acting department, directing department, or any department! It was simply a great movie however it wasn't without faults.

I believe that Iron Man was a better movie. It just had a fun factor that was more enjoyable to me while The Dark Knight was more serious and realistic. Iron Man was just a fun movie and had a sense of humor while The Dark Knight just had Michael Caine as the comic relief and even that wasn't very often.

This was more of an adult movie than a shiny movie like Iron Man was. I do believe that The Dark Knight will break a lot of records though! It was really good as I said I just enjoyed Iron Man a little bit more because of the fun factor.

Friday Evening

Was incredible! I spent it with two friends and didn't do much but run some errands and stuff with them!

Then we went to get ice cream and just hung out in the parking lot and talked for another half hour. All in all it was just a really cool evening!

Tonight is The Dark Knight and before that I am having supper with Wendy and Bob! They aren't going to the movies with me but supper is nice! Wendy recently moved so it will be rare to see her now.

Big Weekend Planned!

Not quite as big as last weekend but lots of stuff on the agenda. Tonight I'm going out with some friends for coffee and whatever mischief we can find.

Tomorrow is The Dark Knight! Have a good sized group ready to go to that! Sunday is laundry day. Nothing big planned then.....but Saturday night and Friday night will make up for Sunday!

I haven't spent a lot of time with my friends lately, our schedules have conflicted with this group for the past couple of weeks so I'm really looking forward to catching up with all of them. We always have a great time when we all get together for movies and this movie will be incredible!

Yeah I'm in the danger zone here with my expectations, only sitting myself up for a disappointment.

The Dark Knight

While I was laying in bed last night.....just after midnight because for some reason I woke up about then, I was pondering the idea of getting up and going to the movies.

The Dark Knight had started at midnight and I am intrigued by this movie! Naturally everyone is somewhat because of the death of Heath Ledger and all but I'm a fan of comic books and this one looks amazing.

The Caesar Romero Joker is long gone as well as the Jack Nicholson Joker thankfully. This Joker though will only last one movie. What you see is what you get then its over with.

I didn't go last night though, I have made plans to go on Saturday night with friends and even though I won't be laid off this time I don't want to spend any leave just yet. I'm very close to one hundred hours again. It has been a while since I've had this amount and I've been rebuilding ever since the kidney stone days.....so no Dark Knight for me until Saturday!

Then I'll put up a full report about it and give my very bland and spoiler free review.

For Sure

We are losing one guy out of our shop. He is a friend of mine too, this really sucks.

Our lead talked to the manager about at least delaying his layoff until one other guy gets off of medical leave since they won't be able to do the job where they are with only three people.

It appears that the company I work for is trying everything in their power to lose this contract and get kicked out. Fine by me if the next company will hire everyone back off of layoff status.

An Unlikely Achievement

I was in a very reflective mood this weekend and it just so happens that I am reading My Dearest Friend as I blogged about a short time ago.

For those of you who don't want to read back to see what the book is about I'll recap for you. My Dearest Friend is a collection of letters between John and Abigail Adams. John Adams was the second President of the United States and a Founding Father.

However this post isn't about John Adams, it is about something that kind of dawned on me while I was reading My Dearest Friend.

John and Abigail Adams' story is one of endurance as they were separated for long amounts of time, it is one of patience, friendship, intimacy, and ultimately one of the Great American Love Stories as they were married for fifty four years.

That is what this post is about, I'll likely not reach a fifty year wedding anniversary. In fact at my age now if I were to get married then thirty would be a landmark and a great achievement. Forty would Everest and fifty....well that is just unlikely. I would have to live to at least eighty and close to ninety as well as my mate.

It isn't that I don't have the capability of something of that magnitude it is just that sometimes I am a bit impulsive. I can be a bit short sighted. I can be a bit quirky. A bit self centered. Sometimes I do things I think are funny but in reality aren't. Sometimes I can be hard to get along with but all of those things are a work in progress.

It would take a woman of patience for sure and a good sense of humor. Someone who would overlook my considerable faults. At my age it would be hard to find someone like that.

So when I show up to my thirtieth high school reunion I might very well be alone again and hopefully I'll have undergone just as many changes as the past ten years, good and bad. If I should be blessed with a partner then I'll be well on my way to my own Great American Love Story although it might not be as epic as John and Abigail.

Reunion Success!!!!

It was far better than I had hoped for. The lunch went off without a hitch and everyone enjoyed each other's company. I was overwhelmed by the spirit of the reunion and how reflective everyone really was.

Numbers were exchanged, addresses were given, and pictures were taken, hundreds of pictures if not thousands!
The food was amazing and well prepared! All in all it was a perfect weekend!

It will be a complete contrast to today which will be a very bad day at work. A six letter word that I had been planning for in October has crept up and will rear its ugly head today....Layoff.

I won't be laid off, I saw an unofficial list and they won't cut enough out of my shop to get to me however they will be cutting my shop. We just don't know exactly how they will cut my shop until they call the guy over to HR to tell him his options.

It is odd to contrast the celebration of this past weekend to the dreary reality of imminent unemployment. Today is going to be bad, there is no way around it.

One Down One To Go

Last night was a wonderful success!
Everyone reminisced and talked over forgotten times and future endeavors. Pictures were taken, drinks were drank, food was eaten, and new memories were made.

Personally I enjoyed the entire evening. I enjoyed seeing everyone all at once again and enjoyed hearing all of the memories that were shared.

The odd thing is that once it was over with I really didn't feel as old as I did yesterday morning. I had a spring in my step when it was over with and despite the weather it was sunny for me.

Twenty Years

Tonight is my twenty year high school reunion. Tomorrow we have a cookout but tonight is an adults only get together at the pub.

Twenty years. That's a long time.
Ironically I believe we only had twenty graduating people in our class. We had a small class and we all knew each other. I liked high school quite a bit actually. It was a great experience for me.

I'm looking forward to tonight, this has been in the planning stages for a while now and the day is finally here. It was actually easier to get everyone together this time than it was at the ten year reunion. The internet is in more homes now and everyone has a email address. It was just a matter of asking people who they knew and in a short time everyone was contacted!

The thirty year will be just as easy to plan at this point!

iPhone 2.0 Firmware

Is now live!
I haven't downloaded it yet as it takes a good half hour to update and I just don't have the time this morning before work.
I did download the new iTunes store last night though and looked around the Apps to see what was there.

A lot of games, utilities, helpful things, social networks. Nothing screamed must have to me though, well not yet. It is just the launch. I really wanted a theme utility. No such luck in being able to customize the look of my iPhone.

Maybe soon there will be one.

Two Incredible Evenings In A Row!!!!

Last night I cooked supper for Chianti and we sat out in the front yard and ate and talked for a couple of hours.

It was very nice! The company as well as the weather. It had rained most of the day and was over with by then so it was very cool, humid, and felt wonderful! I know there won't be many nice and cool days like yesterday this Summer but if that was the only one it was perfectly timed!

I got a few pages further into My Dearest Friend, I frequently go back and reread some of the letters so I can glean some of the context in which they are speaking. It helps quite a bit in the understanding. It almost needs a scholarly commentary to go along with it and since I lack that I must make do on my own.

Wonderful Tuesday!

Last night I took a friend out to supper and then we went grocery shopping! I'm cooking tonight and I can't wait! I love to cook!

It also rained all night, it was amazing sleeping weather! I feel so good this morning! I'm rested. I've been reading My Dearest Friend, The letters of John and Abigail Adams. It is a collection of their letters from before, during, and after the country was founded.

This is very fascinating but I confess that I am missing the context of some of them, the grammar and spelling are a bit tough to decipher at times and I don't get a lot of their references from their time. However what I do get is that it is a fascinating look behind the curtain of the founding of our country and a love story that lasted over fifty years.

They were separated for very long amounts of time and letter writing was the only way to talk. Letter writing was a skill almost an art. Something that is nearly lost in today's times. We strive for instant communication while writing a letter and sending it could take days if it was in the same state and months if it was over seas like when John Adams was in France.

This is interesting though from the first letter and the work that it takes to read it, and it is work, is worth it and very rewarding.

Blasphemy

I just couldn't write about this yesterday. It really is blasphemy, there is no other word for it.

Saturday night during the previews while we were at Hancock there was a scifi movie trailer. It looked almost interesting, I even mentioned it to one of my companions. Then I saw something that looked a little familiar and I started to get a sinking feeling.

The feeling that just made me physically ill almost. I saw Keanu Reeves answering questions hooked to a machine. That part looked good. Then I saw a metal headed robot and a visor lift up and that was the part that made me ill.

Then the payoff, the title that made my jaw drop as my fears were confirmed. One of the great scifi movies of all time has been remade. Hollywood strikes yet again with its repackaging of movies that have no business being remade. Take something classic and repackage it, add tons of CGI, and throw in a story that will appeal to the lowest common denominator and you have The Day The Earth Stood Still....the remake......sigh.......

I love this movie. I have a shirt and the movie poster on my iPhone! This is a wonderful movie and stands the test of time in every way! Its story is timeless which makes it a classic! It applies to every age!

I hate remakes. I love originality and I guess that makes me out of touch. I want to see new and fresh. I don't want to see a movie that was perfect the first time around to be remade for no reason other than to dumb it down.
I think I'm sick now.....

Off Today

I wasn't planning on taking off today but it is a family day at work, almost everyone is off anyway and I have some errands to run today that I couldn't run over the holiday weekend.

The weekend was really good. I had a lot of fun with a lot of friends. This week will be a short week like last week was. That makes it really nice.

Had a hard time sleeping last night. I was up around five and couldn't get back to sleep.

Hancock

Since Monte and Weezy were both in this movie we went to see it last night! I have to say that I enjoyed this movie, Will Smith was really pretty good.

He has improved so much over the years and gotten so much better as an actor.

The movie itself was really fun and had a surprise I didn't see coming and I saw the twists in Saw coming from a mile away. Everyone in the audience was enjoying it, they laughed at the same times and were engaged at the right times. It was actually a pretty short movie and I felt could have been another twenty minutes long.

After the movie we went to a local club to send Weezy back to LA. She leaves today so it was her final night in town. After a while a couple of other people we know joined us and it turned into a wonderful evening and a fitting send off since it will be Christmas when I see Weezy again.

A Fine Celebration!

Yes it was. Went out to eat with friends. Then went to the park and watched the firework show. It would have been nice if it would have been a show that lasted longer but it seemed to be lacking this year.

Tax revenues must be down.

It's alright though, it was a good time. Have lunch planned today and that's about it until tonight.

Going to see Hancock, yeah I know not a normal show I'd go see but since Monte and Weezy were in it I'm going to go with them and see if we can see them! How fun is that?!

Other than that there isn't a lot going on today, as it should be on a holiday weekend!

Happy Fourth Of July!!!!

So go and celebrate by cooking, drinking, and.....no that isn't what I'm going to say. Celebrate today by remembering what today is really about.

Breaking away from Britain. Founding our country, the shining city on the hill. The only country in the world where people still risk their lives to get to! The beacon of freedom in the world!

Celebrate the brilliance of our founding fathers who gave us the chance to keep their dream alive and carry on as best as we can. I wrote Monday that it is a shame that history doesn't really have the emphasis that it used to and outside of Washington, Lincoln, and probably FDR the Presidents probably aren't taught anymore.

You have to have an appreciation of history to carry on into the future. You have to have that basis on which to know where you come so you can figure out where you are going.

We are not Zimbabwe where Presidential candidates are beaten and killed who run for office against the opposition.
We are not Cuba where one dictator rules with an iron fist.
We are not Venezuela where all media is state controlled and opposing voices are silenced.
We ARE the country where you can criticize the President unmercifully and not be visited for it.
We ARE the country where if you aren't happy you can change your circumstances with total freedom.
We ARE the country where our military will fight and die for other the freedoms of other countries so they can enjoy what we do and in doing so preserving our freedoms.

So today on our two hundred thirty second birthday celebrate my friends but remember why you can celebrate freely.

Wooohoooo!

Today is payday Friday except it isn't Friday!
How cool is that?!?!?

Well big news around here is that we are officially getting our very own NBA team! That is such cool news! We supported the Hornets while they had no place to live and made them our own. I believe that the (to be named later team) will indeed be adopted with much love and happiness!

It will be great to be able to go and see them as I did the Hornets. I predict many sell out games and one of the highest ranking attendance records in the league next season!

Tonight Weezy is in town, you'll recall her from Drinkbusters. She is on vacation from acting in LA for a week or so. Tomorrow we have a group going to see Wall-E!

Almost Over!

This week is counting down! Tomorrow is payday and Monday is an optional day meaning you don't have to be there if you don't want to be.

I plan on being there and building up more leave.

Yesterday I met with a small business counselor. I told him a couple of small business ideas I had and how unique they would be. We looked at some statistics and ran some numbers and they said I don't have a big enough customer base and would barely be above the break even line. Not exactly what I thought it would be like but we even inflated the numbers of customers and market share to account for new customers. I wasn't happy but better to learn now than to invest a lot of money and time only to have it fail later.

Sigh.....back to the drawing board.

It's Wednesday!

Well for me it is since Friday is a holiday and I'm off! I do so love the Fourth of July! It means so much and is now just the day for massive firework displays, grilling outside, and getting together.

Well all of those things are fine but it is also the day we stood up to the British Empire, the super power in the world then and told them we were willing to fight for our sovereignty. We declared independence in 1776 and broke away from the Brits.

The rest is literally history now. We sit as the lone super power in the world today. We command the most powerful military ever assembled in the history of the world. We command the biggest economy in the history of the world. We have the most generous people who always jump to help others afflicted by natural disasters or illness.

Our Founding Fathers really had nerve. They had so much courage and intelligence. Now even though they are not forgotten by most people they are largely ignored. Our population rarely has an original thought left despite all of our good intentions.

Unfortunate. Its unfortunate our educational system has failed us in so many ways.