Water-Powered Jet Pack

Okay, I wanna ride! Pleeeeeeeease?? All the fun of a flying jet pack and pretty much no risk... it fails, you fall into the water. :-)

MOVIE: Underworld - Rise Of The Lycans

For an "Underworld" flick, this was okay. I enjoyed how it literally linked into the beginning of the "first" movie (since this was a prequel to it). It's nothing to write home about, but it was fun. Definitely had some gory moments, but you'd expect that from a Vampires versus Werewolves movie, wouldn't you?

MOVIE: Slumdog Millionaire

While watching a portion of the Golden Globe awards, I saw that this movie (a "Bollywood" production) had received many accolades, and decided I'd watch it to see what's what.

I was pleasantly surprised. This was a well-produced flick, with a concrete storyline and a healthy dose of "reality" (I am unclear how "exaggerated" some things were such as the terror depicted between rival religious factions and such). The idea of a young man playing "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" and then tortured (by the local police) to try and coerce a confession out of him because it was assumed he was cheating worked well. I had read elsewhere that it was "too convenient" that each question he was answering had it's response based on real-life experiences the boy encountered... but it's a movie for criminy's sake. It was both depressing and uplifting at the same time, as it teeter-tottered between moments of despair and moments of triumph.

I'm very happy to have seen this movie, and would recommend it to everyone.

Dear Idiot...

I want to thank you for stealing from WalMart. The copy of Turbo Tax Deluxe I purchased which is completely devoid of any CD or paperwork delighted me to no end when I went to install it and do my taxes. I've reported the serial number from this box to Intuit, in the hopes that perhaps they can block you from using the free e-File services offered with the product that you stole.

Sincerely,
Anthony Malena

MOVIE: Valkyrie

I wasn't overly impressed with this Hitler flick. (shrug) It was basically "ho hum". Maybe I was expecting Tom Cruise to rewrite history, I don't know. Oh well. He dies at the end. Hitler does not Oh, did I spoil it for someone? Oh well.

Bowling Night

The boys and I went out bowling late Friday night (Fred and Amanda joined us later) in Ormond Beach, and had a blast. Though I could barely hold my ball, it was still fun. No one broke 120 that night (sigh) which is pathetic, but none of us had bowled in a long time, and I think my parents were probably sadistic when they bought my ball for me when I was a teenager, as it seems to weigh more than every ball at the bowling alley. Hopefully in a week or two when we go again, I'll be in a little better shape and might actually be able to bend over properly next time. :-P

Utility Bills That Do Not Suck

Just a few months ago, I was paying between $420 and $440 a month in electricity. Now, I'm only paying between $165 and $200. All thanks to simple adjustments like not leaving lights on, leaving doors open, etc. It's amazing (though not, really - it's just being logical and caring enough to watch what we do around the house - you could say it's a "respect" issue, too, with those who affect the bills being major contributors to this success). The water-and-trash bill took the same dive, as it's now half (and less) than it was just a few months ago as well.

This has been very helpful since I'm still recovering from spending a lot of (credit) money on things last summer involving my wedding and subsequent separation. With my company dealing with the current US economic crisis as best as it can, I'm happy to have my job and the level of stability I do have; being able to have hundreds more dollars to support the family with each month is an added bonus.

Everything evens out eventually, I guess.

MOVIE: Gran Torino

Wow. Clint Eastwood was a pretty cool cucumber in this movie. And disturbingly enough, made racism an almost laughable issue (which I partially admired). No one was safe. This flick really made you think, and laugh at times, about racial stereotypes, and the fact that even the most smug race-supremecist (whatever race they may be) can actually come around, and many times, it really is "upbringing" (or programming, let's say, from fighting in Korea or Vietnam) that makes you have the attitudes you have. A sobering thought as I think about my own children.

In any case, I enjoyed this movie immensely. Clint Eastwood "singing" during the credits was an unexpected treat, too.

Weak Women

...are as frustrating as the Men who cannot stand up to them when they are out of line.

Let the rock hurling begin.

With the events of my life and the four women who have had impact on my life, I'm surely the biggest wimp, the most unfeeling person, and the most undesired man on the face of the earth. I'm pretty certain I should have chosen to be gay (news flash, it's a choice people), or more appropriately, just not to get involved. Thanks to this, I am divorced, separated and not able to see my dying father. Frankly, I'm beginning to contemplate wiping the slate completely clean and moving on with life with a fresh start. Were it so easy as wiping memory clean on one of my computers. (sigh)

MacBook Wheel... NOT

I find it funny that there are certain news outlets (some of which I respected) actually advertising the MacBook Wheel as a real product (a video posted on theonion.com). If you watch it, watch it ALL. It starts stupidly, and then gets insane by the end. :-)

G-Force... NOT!

I thought I was going to get a teaser video of actual work on an actual G-Force movie (known to many Americans as the cartoon "Battle Of The Planets" which starred the voice of Casey Kasem, but which was really a Japanese show called "Gatchaman"), but was appalled to see that Disney thinks it can simply rip off the name from a long standing franchise and use it for a really stupid looking kids' movie... (sigh)