New Hobby

I have taken up a new hobby these last few months and have kept it kind of on the down low.

I am now the host of podcast:

 I only told two people outside of Rob, Sue and B (each for various reasons) until I could tell how it was going to go. Well, after 3 episodes I can say it's going pretty well and I'm ready to let the cat out of the bag.  We have a facebook page, we have some fans (around 75 downloading each episode every week at this point (3 episodes in), we are getting feedback, and we have a host site hosting us.

Our podcast if you can't tell from the picture is a podcast devoted to the TV Show "Freaks and Geeks".  There is a family of podcasts known as "Introcasts" (more on that in a minute), and I am known to comment on the Buffy The Vampire Slayer one now and then, and that's how this all came about.  A group of us thought Freaks and Geeks deserved an Introcast and next thing I knew, I was a host of it.  I thought, "why not?  I like podcasts and a new hobby sounds like just the thing".

Ok Introcasts is a format of podcast where you have one or two hosts that are big fans of the show you are reviewing, they love it and they know lots about it (that's what I do along with my cohost Rich), then you find a few people whom have never seen the show ever and know very, very little about it.  Then, on each episode of the podcast, you go over one of the episodes of the show and talk about it.  You ask the new people what they thought of it, you ask them what they think is going to happen next, and just do stuff like that.  The vets, since they love the show so much usually add little tidbits and fun facts about the making of, behind the scenes, etc.  You keep the new people spoiler free, and they don't explore the internet about the show to learn what happens next and all that kind of stuff.  The beauty of this format is, is that long time lovers of the show enjoy watching along and hearing what new people to the show have to say about it, they get kicks out of hearing their predictions, be them right or wrong, and just have that feeling of introducing a friend to a beloved show of theirs.  AND any new people listening can watch along and not be spoiled, and they can learn information about the new show they are watching.  It's really fun if you're into that sort of thing.

Ok, that is it.  Except if you're interested in listening and friends and family-- I will not be hurt if you don't listen!  I swear!  It's all kind of embarrassing if you'd really like to know.  You can call me a nerd if you want, it's ok.  You probably wouldn't be too far off either, but like I said-- new, interesting hobby I am having a good time doing. So, you know, whatever. 

Oh yeah- so if you are interested in listening you can find it on itunes here, or go to our host site Quadruple Z and you can download/listen to it directly from there.

Elinor!

In case you're not on facebook and mostly are my mother in law (whom has been complaining about my dead blog- and rightfully so) I thought I'd share this ad.  It came out yesterday and features our own little Elinor.  It's been shared by over 150 people in 24 hours, that means it's been seen by thousands of people on facebook.  I'm proud of my little girl doing her cutest to raise awareness for Rett Syndrome, made possible by our good friends across the pond at curerett.org.uk


Also- I've really been wanting to get back into blogging and have some great blogs in my head I could write, so stay tuned, I just might.

What Emily's Been Watching, January '13

Here is January finally.  I am doing it separate from February or I'll never do it, and I want to do it, so I am.  Not sure anyone still cares, since I all but abandoned my blog for like half a year.  No matter-  I am forging on and hopefully there is still a smidgen of interest out there.

BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD (2012) PG-13 drama/fantasy.  I had been waiting to see this movie for a long time and was expecting to be blown away- perhaps this was it's downfall.  I am not saying that I didn't like it, but I was definitely disappointed.  I could see what it wanted to do and what it almost did, but in the end it just didn't quite make it on all accounts.  Everything was just slightly a miss.  The only thing that didn't disappoint me was the little girl.  I thought she was great.  I am just going to call her the little girl too cause I'm a little too lazy to look up how to spell her first name.  Anyway, it's the story of a little girl and her father who live on the other side of the levy in New Orleans called "The Bathtub".  It is basically all houseboats and wet shanties, etc., because of the water line.  The father is sick and you can tell he is dying and the mom is just gone.  It showed a little niche of life that is someone else's reality and that is always something I am interested in, but there was a fantasy sort of element to it that DIDN'T work for me whatsoever.  It had one or two really impactful scenes to me though.  All in all, I wished I'd have liked it better.   Emily thinks you should see it if you have been wanting to- a lot of people really love it so maybe you will too.  I'm glad I saw it.


 

CLEANFLIX (2009) NR  documentary.  I heard about this on Filmspotting SVU and since it was a documentary set in Utah based on that weird boom of businesses around here "cleaning up movies", I had to check it out.  I remember watching that whole phenomenon unfold, starting with Titanic when movie shops started cutting out the Kate Winslet nude scene to make it family friendly and then they figured they might as well clean up other movies as well and BOOM!  You have yourself a successful Utah Valley business. It really made me think a lot about the whole concept of movies, right and wrong, movie ratings, art, etc.  It sucessfully did what I love in a movie:  made me evaluate a bunch of stuff in my head and cause me to think a lot after it's done.  PLUS the main guy in the movie was a guy I actually knew fairly well in high school and that was a surprise.  I don't think I paid much attention while it was happening (or if I did, I totally forgot).  Emily recommends this one.  It was pretty entertaining and interesting and thought provoking.  Those are three good things.



QUEEN OF VERSAILLES (2012) PG  documentary.  Another very entertaining documentary.  Man I love documentaries! This movie was great!  There is something so horrifying about seeing the lives of the utterly classless and tasteless rich.  It was a documentary someone decided to make, documenting this couple in Florida building the biggest house in America (single residence).  He is a time share mogul and she was an ex beauty queen.  Neither of them have an ounce of taste.  None.  I am talking he has a tacky gold THRONE he sits in, they have paintings on their wall they had commissioned of them dressed as gods and kings and queens, they have her old dogs that have died stuffed in the hallway, I am talking a freak show of horrid taste.  The house they were building was being modeled after the Palace of Versailles.  Yep.  The thing is, mid way through building and (mid way through the documentary), the real estate market collapsed and they lost all their money.  So the doc takes a turn and they allowed them to continue filming.  It's quite the story.  Emily totally recommends this little number.  Good stuff.  It's streaming on Netflix right now.  Do it.





YOUR SISTER'S SISTER (2011) R  comedy/drama.  This movie gets a giant MEH.  I didn't dislike it, I wasn't crazy about it, it is just meh.  I don't like it when independent movies have a really heavy independent movie vibe and this one screams it.  The story is of a guy that has a girl for a best friend and he goes to her family's cabin at her urging to get over his brother's death by being alone.  Little did she or he know that her sister was there.  It goes on from there.  It isn't awful, it isn't wonderful, it's meh.



RUBY SPARKS (2012) R  comedy/romance.  This one faired better then the above movie.  This one had Paul Dano whom I really like.  The trailer will explain the concept of the movie very nicely.  But here is what it really is:  The whole manic pixie dream girl thing imploded on itself in one movie.  Is that good or bad?  You decide I suppose, but I liked it alright.  Was the implosion ironic?  I am not sure, but I lean towards not.  Emily can recommend this movie.  It is good for a light, in the mood for a fairly well done romantic comedy kind of night.  Fun enough.





SAFETY NOT GUARANTEED (2012) R  comedy/romance.  This movie completes my independent, romantic comedy trilogy I didn't plan.  It ended up the winner.  I really, really liked this one. Maybe I was just in a good mood that night and in the perfect mood for it- but I really enjoyed this movie.  It was based on an ad placed in a magazine (as a joke by the editor) that read: "Wanted: Somebody to go back in time with me. This is not a joke. P.O. Box 91 Ocean View, WA 99393. You'll get paid after we get back. Must bring your own weapons. Safety not guaranteed. I have only done this once before.  The movie is about a 3 person team of journalists that read this ad and decided to find the guy that placed it and do an undercover story on him.  It was really fun and I loved the ending.  Good times.  Recommend.  I had to get it from Redbox, but I've now noticed it streaming on Netflix.



OSLO, AUGUST 31ST (2011) NR   drama.  This movie got a lot of buzz for a while, so when I saw it streaming, I checked it out.  It was really good and depressing.  I am ashamed to say that I don't remember the details all that well.  I don't even remember if it was subtitled or not, but I am almost sure it was.  It is one day in the life of a guy that is living his first day in almost a year out of rehab.  Guess what day and guess where?  Anyway, it was a sad little reality and a bleak look at what it's like after rehab.  Emily recommends this movie even though it's details are sketchy- I remember it being good.  Cut me some slack, it's late, I'm sick and have taken Sudafed.



Yep- Subtitles

GIRL WALK // ALL DAY (2011) NR   hmmm...dancy dance?  THIS MOVIE.  This movie is perhaps my favorite movie I have seen in years.  I'm serious.  It is far and away the most rewatchable movie I've seen since in recent memory since I've rewatched it I don't know how many times.  It is the story of a girl that dances through New York City, there is a love triangle and there is also zero dialogue.  (That isn't true, three lines are subtitled in, but they are incidental to the plot.)  You may not think that such a movie could be so joyful or fun, but I assure you it is.  It brings me so much joy.  If you are having a bad day, you watch this for 15 minutes and you will turn that mood around.  Give this a shot!  Especially if you like to watch dancing and like joy and you have to like hip hop and a little hard core rap.  The rap isn't radio friendly if you know what I mean. Best of all, this movie is available free to anyone who has internet access.  Instead of linking the title to IMDB like usual, I linked it to the website where you can watch it. At least give it 15 minutes.  I bet you have a hard time turning it off.  (I even bought it on DVD, and I am willing to loan it out if you'd like.)


Wow- that was my first time watching the trailer- it made me smile.

BEAUTY IS EMBARRASSING (2012) NR  documentary. I watched this movie as part of PBS's Independent Lens thing.  It focuses on an artist named Wayne White.  He is interesting and unique and was the creative force behind most of Pee Wee's Playhouse.  That's about all to say really except his art is cool and that I enjoyed it, but wasn't blown away.



SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN (2012) PG-13  documentary.  THIS one totally blew me away.  This is a truly, awesome story.  It is about a singer/songwriter from the 60's named Rodriguez.  He signed with a record label and made an album and...it totally bombed.  A bootleg copy entered South Africa during Apartheid and long story short- Rodriguez is like South Africa's Elvis.  And he never knew.  I am going to remain sketchy and that's all you get of the story.  It's just too good to watch for yourself.   And it gets a huge congratulations from me for winning the best documentary Oscar.  Totally deserved.  Emily recommends this movie to everybody but especially to Matt who I ordered to see this and I am pretty sure he has not yet *stink eye*.  I watched it thinking it was a story he would really, really appreciate and coincidentally, it raised many of the same questions he was pondering about art over Christmas and I thought that was neat (as long as you include music in your definition of art).  I haven't seen the trailer yet for it, and if I feel it gives too much away, then that is why you don't see it listed.  In that case, just go watch it, you'll thank me I think.

February is coming soon...I SWEAR!

2013 Oscar Confidence List

 

It's that time once again folks and I'm getting my picks listed just under the wire.  I did surprisingly well last year therefore I have nowhere to go but down (I scored a 238 getting my entire top ten right).  I've missed seeing a lot of the top contenders this year, but did manage to watch all but one of the documentaries up (didn't see The Gatekeepers) and I watched all of the animated shorts for the first time ever, so I was able to make an intelligent decision on that category for once.  Not convinced it will help.  
Ah well, cheers and happy Oscars.

Oh- this year I decided to make my official pick and score it in order, but also next to it will be my personal pick, but I am not doing the 300 score thing for my personal picks.  So this year my heart and my head are going to duke it out.  Should be interesting.  (for two categories when it came to my personal choice, I had a tie between two movies, so if either happens to be the winner, I will score myself 1/2 a point).

This is how scoring works:(I'm doing the Movie BS scoring again this year- lots of fun)

1) you decide who you think is going to win in each category

2) you put them in order of how confident you are of your picks in each category.

There are 24 categories, so for example, if I get my first one right (or the one I feel most confident I will get right-) I get 24 points for that one. For the second on my list, I would get 23 points and so on. If you get them all right, it will add up to exactly 300 points. 

LIGHT GREEN: THE ONES I GOT RIGHT (HEAD)
DARK GREEN: THE ONES I MISSED (HEAD)
LIGHT PINK: THE ONES I GOT RIGHT (HEART)
DARK PINK: THE ONES I MISSED (HEART)
   

1.  FOREIGN LANGUAGE ... Amour (24pts.) - Amour

2.  BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS ... Anne Hathaway (23) - Anne Hathaway

3.  BEST ACTRESS ... Jennifer Lawrence (22) - Quvenzhané Wallis

4.  ORIGINAL SONG ... Skyfall (21) - Pi's Lullaby

5.  DOCUMENTARY ... How to Survive a Plague (20) - 5 Broken Cameras/Searching for Sugar Man

6.  BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR ... Robert De Niro (19) - Philip Seymour Hoffman

7.  BEST ACTOR ... Daniel Day Lewis (18) - Daniel Day Lewis

8.  ANIMATED SHORT ... Adam and Dog (17) - Paperman

9.  VISUAL EFFECTS ... Life of Pi (16) - Life of Pi

10. ADAPTED SCREENPLAY ... Argo (15) - Beasts of the Southern Wild

11. MAKE UP AND HAIRSTYLE ... Les Miserables (14) - Les Miserables

12. BEST DIRECTING ... Lincoln: Steven Spielberg (13) - Life of Pi: Ang Lee (I'm a fan)

13. BEST PICTURE ... Argo (12) - Django Unchained 

14. LIVE ACTION SHORT ... Buzkashi Boys (11) - Curfew

15. ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY ... Amour (10) - Django Unchained/Moonrise Kingdom

16. COSTUME DESIGN ... Anna Karenina (9) - Anna Karinina

17. CINEMATOGRAPHY ... Life of Pi (8) - Skyfall

18. ANIMATED FILM ... Brave (7) - I don't care AT ALL- didn't see any so.... Wreck it Ralph?

19. EDITING ... Argo (6) - Zero Dark Thirty

20. ORIGINAL SCORE ... John Williams: Lincoln (5) - I AM PROTESTING THIS CATEGORY FOR JONNY

21. SOUND MIXING ... Les Miserables (4) - Life of Pi

22. SOUND EDITING ... Argo (3) - Django Unchained

23. DOCUMENTARY SHORT ... Open Heart (2) - Open Heart (the only one I've heard of)

24. PRODUCTION DESIGN ... Lincoln (1) - Lincoln

FINAL SCORE: 213 (much better then I anticipated! *patting self on back*)

And my winner of heart vs. head is: my head (as is the way of the world)
17/24- HEAD
11/24- HEART (I got my two 1/2 points)

Funny calling this a confidence list- I feel decidedly unconfident about the lot.  Unusually so.

What Emily watched the last half of 2012

I may have taken a blog break, but I didn't stop watching.  I did stop writing them down though.  I wrote a few down and will try to remember as much as possible.  What I am not going to do is review them save for a one word sum up of each movie (which the exception of 2 mea culpas). It's been since June people!  I will also link to IMDB in case you're curious.

Night Wolf - bad bad, not good bad (I already broke my rule)
Amelie - lovely
The Woman in Black - freaky
The Double Life of Veronique - good (and over my head)
The 400 Blows - amazing
The Innkeepers - worth seeing
Bernie - Loved
Gosford Park - alright
A Separation - outstanding
Sleepwalk With Me - FUNNY
Cloud Atlas - zzzzzzzzzz

I also started watching or caught up on:

Breaking Bad -outstanding
The Walking Dead - awesome
Dexter season 6 - kicked (my butt)
Supernatural - meh
How I Met Your Mother - funny

Added late:
Django Unchained - most excellent

My mea culpas:

Run Lola Run - It has been a while since I saw this because I moved this and the other movie to the top of my dvd queue the hour I got called out, which must have been sometime last June- so excuse my memory.
 It was really good.  The whole movie is basically rehashing the same period of the day for Lola except little things change every time and this makes for drastically different outcomes.  Think Groundhog Day meshed with The Butterfly Effect made by Germans (if you've never seen a German movie, you'll just have to see what I mean).  I really enjoyed it Ami- thanks for recommending it to me.  I fully recommend it to anyone.


The Triplettes of Bellevue - First of all this is a cartoon, which I wasn't expecting.  A really strange, French cartoon.  I spend most of this movie going "what the crap?"  I enjoyed myself for the most part, but really spent a lot of time wondering what the deal was.  What is the deal Aim?  Explain your relationship with this movie.  Oh- it's about a little boy that lives with his grandma and grows up to be a cyclist, gets kidnapped during the Tour de France.  The grandma and her dog go to find him and end up in Bellevue where they are befriended by 3 old ladies that sing and eat frog stew.  They somehow help her find her grandson in a movie theater.  I think I got that right.  I can recommend this movie to all who like weird French cartoons.  I didn't know that I did, but I think I do alright.  I remember being quite fascinated with the animation throughout.



Well- that's what I've got.  If you saw a movie with me that I forgot, kindly bring it to my attention and I'll add it. Also, if you'd like me to expound on any of these titles, I'd be happy to chat them up.

I've got January and February's movies written down and will try to get January's post out tomorrow.  I'm always sorry when I say that....

Fuzzy Chick Head

I want to get back to blogging, but I don't know where to start, so here is me without pomade. I walked around like this all morning and then looked in a mirror and had a good laugh. I don't think the picture does it justice. That is some crazy fuzzy baby chick thing happening. Not anymore though. I applied some pomade. 

By the way-- MUSIC IS BACK!!! Let's rejoice.

Two Little Monkeys Reading on the Bed

Scout decided to read to Elle a few nights ago and I thought they were both pretty cute.

Neglected Blog

I know, and I'm ready to do something about that.  Stay tuned and in the meantime know this:

I am completely and utterly in love with this yogurt:

Especially strawberry and vanilla.   Try it.  It kicks Greek yogurt and Stoneyfield Organic in the trash if you ask me.

Have a nice day.

Elinor Pants

If it makes her laugh, you just go with it.
And then Scout comes in and helps you.










And then you pull out the camera.
(Then when Scout watches it later, Elle hears the song and laughs all over again.)

Scatterbrain

We are home from Mexico and school has started and I have a lot to catch up on my blog.
But not today. 

It's almost September and I haven't done my July movie watching post. *guilt*

Rob is gone for a few days on another fishing trip (no scary movies this time).  He is actually fishing with a group of Rett people "fishing for a cure" I think it might be called.  He is supposed to rub shoulders with some of the higher ups of the Rett Syndrome Foundation.  Pretty neat.  Good cause.

My ipad didn't seem to like the humidity in Mexico and keeps trying to shut itself off.  Hudsauce.

Well, I guess that's it.  

I suppose I could use my boredom to start my July movie post, but I don't think I will.

I need more pictures to do my Mexico ones, but they're coming.  

Sorry for the random babbling............

"Somewhere I'm not scatterbrain"

Angel

There's more

A Wedding in The Rockies

We went on a little road trip this past weekend to Denver (yeah- interesting weekend to be in Denver) to see Rob's brother Travis get married to our new sister in law Alicia.  I must say, the Colorado mountains made a beautiful backdrop for a wedding. 

Beautiful day too AND a great couple.  We are glad to welcome Alicia officially into the family (we spent Christmas with her and she is fully approved- especially by Scout.  She wormed her way nicely into Scout's heart with about 300 games of "Go Fish").

 I am making a valiant effort to get Elle to walk to her table for the luncheon.

Cooperation was minimal.

Alicia is an ex pastry chef and turns her nose at wedding cakes (rightly so- dry tasteless things that they are), so instead, each table had a gourmet cake as the centerpiece and all the guests were going around tasting as many as possible.  I made it through 4 before I had to call it quits.  Later that night I deeply regretted not taking a few samples back to the hotel of the ones I didn't get to.  
Oh well.  I suppose it's all for the best.

Speaking of the hotel, this trip marked the first time the girls have ever shared a bed.  Good grief they were both giggly.  Elinor couldn't believe her good fortune finding herself laying next to Scout. 

Scout found it pretty exciting herself I think.  It took quite a while for them to settle down.

Here you get to witness Scout trying to photo bomb my picture, misunderstanding that I am actually recording a video........  Just watching this makes me tired.  Those were some epic beans.

Believe it or not, they both finally gave up........ like 2 hours later.


Rob and I just watched the news.  So sad.  It was pretty cool being able to watch the local news though- we got a better picture and more personal view of the whole thing.  Our hotel was only 15 minutes away from that theater.  
Still can't believe that happened.

There are plenty of other and better pictures taken by other cameras at the wedding, I just don't have my hands on them yet and don't know when I will. 

 As usual, my camera spent most of it's time in the diaper bag.

It was a great weekend though, and always fun to spend a few days with the fam, spread out across the US as they are (when I say spread out, I am talking from Pennsylvania to Hawaii -and a few places in between-, so we rarely get to spend time together.) 

We try and make the best of it when we do though.

Congratulations Travis and Alicia!!  We wish you the best!

I think everyone should take a week off of blaming Obama for our economy and blame Walmart instead

Holy crap!  That sounds like THE GREATEST IDEA EVER!!!

Read this article (I wasn't shocked once, but I was angered the entire time I read it).   
More then ever, I am glad I banned Walmart years ago.  

Beware:

 Scout's room has become quite exclusive as of late.

At least T Rexes seem to be a pretty polite bunch.

At the Zoo

What Emily's Been Watching May/June

Ug.  I've totally been putting this off because I was crap about writing my movies down, which snowballs into all kinds of problems that have culminated into a double post and probably missing movies (although I skimmed through my entire Netflix history for May and June which proved very helpful as I came up with at least 3 titles I would have totally forgotten I think). 

Well, let's go then.

THE BEAT THAT MY HEART SKIPPED (De battre mon coeur s'est arrêtè) (2005) [R] crime/thriller/drama. I am only guessing here, but I imagine the title of this movie sounds and is more eloquent in it's native tongue.  Clunky in English or not, this movie was really good.  It's about a guy that was kind of born into a crime family of sorts (father's side at least), his mother was a celebrated pianist and in his youth he was on the road to following her footsteps, but dropped it (oops- forgot why) and became little more then a thug for his father.  One day he runs into his mother's old teacher/mentor and basically gets an audition to play for him.  Problem is, he hasn't played in a long time.  So he basically goes through an existential crisis about his life, takes piano from an oriental lady that doesn't speak french, and the film goes on from there.  I really liked this movie- it had a great and interesting ending, and was just all together good and worth a watch.  Emily thinks this movie is worth a watch.

I DO (Prête-moi ta main) (2006) [NR] romantic comedy.  This one gets a meh to ok.  (It is a romantic comedy after all.)  I thought I would try another French one.  It was enjoyable enough I guess- way better then some I've seen-  I really liked Charlotte Gainsbourg in it.  This one is about a bachelor that has some meddling/busy sisters and mom that bug him about his bachelor status to the point that he hires a girl to pretend to be his fiance and then leave him at the alter, breaking his heart to the point that they no longer bug him about getting married.  Well, things don't quite go according to plan as you may suspect.  It broke the romcom mold by not having a slutty best friend.  Score a point.  Emily can recommend this one to all you rom com likers.
trailer's here

CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS (2010) [G] documentary.  I had been meaning to check this one out for a while and finally got around to it.  While it wasn't the most exciting movie one has ever seen, and I did have to start it over about three times cause I kept falling asleep, I ultimately enjoyed it.  It's the latest Werner Herzog and is a doc about the Chauvet Caves somewhere in France.  Basically these caves contain the oldest known human paintings ever discovered (by A LOT!).  These caves weren't discovered until the 90's and had been perfectly preserved this whole time (like 30,000 years).  It's not only cave paintings, it is hundreds and hundreds of cave paintings- and they all look like they could have been drawn yesterday.  After it's discovery, they let tourists in to see them, but discovered that the humidity the people were bringing with them was causing trouble, so they closed it to the public and now only let select scientists in.  So, giving Herzog rein to film these caves was quite the big deal and the best way we can all enjoy the amazing beauty of these caves.  The part that had the most impact on me, was the discovery of a child's footprints in the dust along side wolf prints.  They have no idea if they were walking together, if the child was being tracked by the wolf, or if they occurred within thousands of years of each other.  Kind of cool.  The last 20-30 minutes were basically just images of the paintings shown with some sort of pretty opera music (or something- it's been a while.  The music was so nice, this is where I kept falling asleep.)  Emily thinks this movie is totally worth watching, but many before me and perhaps after me have and will describe it as "boring".  So watch at your own risk.

JULES ET JIM (1962) [NR] drama/romance.  This was a movie recommendation from Chris and Jimmy and my sister Sue.  It's an old film by the old acclaimed french director,  François Truffaut.  This was my first of his and I have a few more in my queue.  Interesting movie.  It is essentially a movie about the friendship of two men, but also a love triangle with this woman named Cathy.  I just loved Jules and Jim- they were just cute.  Cathy was pretty much atrocious, but you could see the tie/fascination they had with her.  This movie caused some ripples in it's day on account of the living situation they find themselves in at one point.  Definitely progressive, especially for it's time.  It was a really, really enjoyable movie to watch and well made and well acted.  I really enjoyed it.  See it sometime.

GRIZZLY MAN (2005) [R] documentary.  Figured another Werner Herzog was in order.  I've wanted to see this one for a long time and it's been floating in my queue for almost as long.  One day while folding a mountain of laundry, I got around to it (can't watch french movies while I fold and Grey's Anatomy is on summer break).  This documentary is on a man named Timothy Treadwell  who was a nature/grizzly bear activist.  He lived among the bears for years and years trying to pass himself off as one of them.  After surviving for years that way, he and his girlfriend at the time were attacked and killed by a bear in Alaska. 
What he did and how he lived was very controversial to the parks service and other activists.  But let me tell you, he really believed that what he was doing was helpful to the grizzlies. But I find that all kind of irrelevant really.  I liked him right away and feel like I got him pretty quick.  I think he simply just loved those bears SO MUCH (and foxes) that he was happy living with them.  I think it was a story of a man that lived and died the way he wanted, so all is well at the end.  He knew the risks his lifestyle presented.  And man he cracked me up! I thought he was great and would have loved to have known him.  He basically filmed all the time and he would be alone for very long stretches with nothing  but bears, foxes and his camera for company (one time he goes on this rant about how women don't stay with him very long and how it would be so much easier if he were gay- because gay men have it so easy.)  I don't think a lot of people would agree with that- but he sure believed in the theory.  Anyway, Herzog put his footage together and made a documentary out of it.  Emily really enjoyed this movie and found it very entertaining.  Just a sad and fascinating story, a happy story too though-well done and well worth a go. 

 

CONAN O'BRIEN CAN'T STOP (2011) [R] documentary.  This is a documentary about that time in Conan's career when he was in between  The Tonight Show and TBS and he took an act on the road because he wasn't allowed on TV and well, because he can't stop.  Conan is just one of those people that needs an audience laughing at him to feel normal and happy.  I'd call this an enjoyable little watch on a lazy day.  Especially if you like Conan.  It gives you an inside look at his operation and his life and people he works with.  I don't know- that's about it. I like documentaries and I like Conan.  This was fun to watch.  Probably should be a Conan fan to really enjoy.  If you are- well, you'll like it. 

MOONRISE KINGDOM (2012) [PG-13] comedy/drama/romance.  I saw this movie with some sisters and my cousin Dan.  We had been very excited to see this one for a few months and finally got together and saw it at The Broadway.  We SO were not disappointed!  What a great movie.  We are all Wes Anderson fans, and this was very Wes Andersony and awesome.  I am going to call it my favorite of his so far.  (Oh that's hard to say, I do love Rushmore so much).  It's a very close call, maybe we'll call it a tie.  It's basically a love story between two misfit/troubled 13ish year olds.  They run away together on this island they live on and camp on the shores of a river.  The kids (especially Sam were just adorable).  It contained the regular Anderson players (Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman (in a cameo), etc.) but also had some fun additions such as Edward Norton (in a Scout's uniform complete with shorts and knee socks), and Bruce Willis had a great outside the box (for him) roll.  Totally charming little film, if you are a Wes Anderson fan, I recommend it highly.  If you dislike his style, probably stay away.

BORN TO BE WILD (2011) [G] documentary.  I gave this movie to Scout as a birthday present some weeks back.  We hadn't seen it yet, but baby orangutangs and baby elephants- no brainer.  It's just as cute as it promised.  This is a pretty short film (40 minutes or so) and was made as an IMAX picture mostly for museums and stuff.  It is about people that adopt orphaned orangutangs and elephants and raise them to go back out into the wild when they are ready.  Morgan Freeman narrates it.  I think this is one practically anyone would like.  Also a good reminder about respecting our world and the animals around it.

May Wall of Shame

THE DARK KNIGHT (2008) [PG-13] action/drama.  This is a wall of shame movie that truly encompasses what it means to be on my wall of shame.  The whole word has seen it, it was a phenomenon at it's time, and when you mention when it's brought up that you "missed that one" you get looks of incredulity and are told you are crazy.  I figured that since another one was coming out soon, this would be a good time to watch it finally.  Even though I can't say I'm planning on seeing the new one either.  Here is the scoop:  it was a fine movie, yes Heath Ledger was an incredible Joker, I am a Christian Bale fan, when it comes to superheros- Batman would have to be my favorite, BUT I simply care very very little for superhero movies and all that jazz.  I can't get excited about them.  The whole comic book world totally escapes me.  It's just not my thing.  This seems to have gotten worse and worse over the years.  The rise of the fanboy and the whole nerd culture uprising especially the million superhero movies that come out yearly, just all compiles to making me less and less interested.  That's just how it's working out for me.  Don't quite know why.  Oh well.  Um, you've probably already seen this movie.  It was worth seeing I suppose although I honestly could have done without seeing it and been perfectly happy.  Does that make it not worth seeing?  Perhaps for me, but most people seem to really like it.  I'm going to say this:  Heath Ledger's performance was definitely worth seeing.  Also- Christian Bale made a fine Batman.  Oh and I am a total Christopher Nolan fan.  Maybe I liked this movie alright. 


 June Wall of Shame 

THE EXORCIST (1973) [R] horror.  A local theater (in Salt Lake) is showing some classic movies on the big screen every Wednesday this summer and when Sue caught wind that The Exorcist was playing- we decided to go.  I had never seen it and figured it was about time and how can you pass up seeing it in the theater?  I was really nervous to see it.  I knew the basic story of course and had seen scenes etc almost my whole life from it.  I was so worked up about it I had a nightmare the night before I saw it about it.  It turns out that it didn't scare me as much as I thought it would.  It was all just too familiar and much of it was just too over the top to really scare me.  Sue and I agreed that if you saw this in the theater when it first came out, being a subject that hadn't been done in movies before and the images weren't familiar to you yet- it would most likely scare the ever loving crap out of you.  In this day and age, it's still shocking and scary, but not the same and not so much.  I will admit to being a little nervous when Rob left me alone with the girls overnight a few nights later to go fishing, but I made it though just fine.  I can recommend this movie if you like horror movies and haven't seen it.  It's a good story and well acted and well done.  The story of the priest was very good I thought.  It surprised me at the end.

So far I'm writing down my July movies like a good girl.

Newest Utah Fire

Is hitting a little close to home :(  -well, by home I mean our home before we moved-.  My old neighbor took this pic from her house and it happens to be a direct shot of our old house.  Sad huh?  My beautiful mountains and view.  Thinking of my old friends and neighbors and wishing all these fires would stop.  

The fire seems to be going over the mountain instead of towards the neighborhood, but all it takes is a wind shift.  Towards the back of the mountain means devastation of the Alpine Loop :(  No good options, it's all just depressing.

It's supposed to rain tomorrow for the first time in over 56 days-- almost the longest on record without rain.  That sucks!  But I'm looking forward to the rain and hoping it brings some relief.  

Taken yesterday on our way to Salt Lake

Just an old picture I took a few years ago. 

 Kind of the same angle as the first picture, just no fire.

Scout's Birthday!

Well, my Beantown Monkey turned 7 last week.  Man was she excited for this one.  She has had it planned for months and months.  I let her have party this year (I don't throw one every year, on partyless years I take her out for the day and we do a bunch of fun stuff).  She wanted to have a water party this time and that sounded fine by me.  She has a little plastic pool and I bought a Slip and Slide for the party and filled a bunch of water balloons.  We also had a pinata and played water balloon games for prizes.  But mostly they splashed in the water and laid on towels and did yoga (yeah, I know- weird).  I managed to keep them in the yard until the last 5 minutes, when they all wanted to go to Scout's room and see her horses.  I ran the whole party myself too, so I may have forgotten to take some pictures of the pinata and the games.  Eh. 

Scout requested the exact same cupcake cake I made her a few years ago:

I (politely) explained to her that is kind of lame and asked her if it would be ok if I just came up with a surprise that I knew she would like.  She liked that idea and I came up with something similar but different and she ended up liking it, so that was good.

I only had to make the tiniest batch of fondant and that made me really happy.  Lots of different food colorings though- but it went fairly fast and was kind of fun. 

 (Even though I didn't start until midnight.)

We served the cupcakes with ice cream sodas (raspberry sherbet, sprite and whip cream- with a pirouline cookie)  I tried to make the table look kind of elegant and grown up (ish) and the girl's were thrilled, so it worked out.  AND we only lost one of my inexpensive Ikea water goblets, and it may have been my fault (discovered cracked in the dishwater later).   There was only one second of drama, when Scout dropped her Zebra cupcake on the lawn and it was the last one.  I quickly took the zebra off her fallen one and switched it with an untouched tiger one and all was good again.  Not too bad for having 11 excited little 6 and 7 year olds around for an afternoon I think. 

Can I just share how much I am enjoying raising Scout?  When it comes to kids, she is like the whole ball of wax rolled into one.  She is obedient, smart, and funny.  I like how she isn't a tom boy exactly- she loves pretty dresses and pink, but she could care less about princesses and would rather pretend she is an elephant playing in the dirt.  She makes friends easily and is almost always willing to try new foods.  She still puts her foot down on Mexican food which I can't see her surviving in this family like that forever.  But she will always eat sushi and especially loves the fish eggs on top- so how can you argue with her?  Elle couldn't ask for a better big sister either.  Even though the promise of a sister for Scout didn't turn out the way we had all planned, she has totally rolled with it and embraced Elinor for who she is.  The doctor always gets the third degree from Scout when we bring her in, they are always asked what they are going to do to her, if it will hurt and if she is going to get a shot.  

She always lets me know if she thinks Elle needs something, or looks sad, when I ask them both a question, Scout will answer for herself and then will reply for Elinor too in a special "Elinor voice".  Yesterday they took a bath together (they never do that), and it lasted FOREVER!  The entire time, 20 seconds wouldn't go by without an Elinor belly laugh.  She was so delighted.  Scout washed her hair, splashed water in her face, did silly voices and Elle was just eating it all up.  I haven't heard her so consistently happy for so long in a long while- content- yes, actively laughing- no.  In fact, when I got them out the water was cold.  Neither one seemed to mind, silly little things.  

Anyway, I am SO proud of Scout and just love her so much.  I seriously couldn't ask for a better kid.  Love, love, love you baby girl!

Thought I would post a few pictures of her, then thought about how I have all my favorite pics of her in an album on fb, so if you click here you should be able to view them with or without an account and this saves me a lot of time and hassle.

Alright, here's one of her I love that isn't in that album