MOVIE: A Nightmare On Elm Street (2010)

Well, since I'm old school (i.e., saw the original movie "back in the day"), I'll keep my comments simple.

Freddie: Wow, that's the best they could do? He looked SO pathetically "simple", and his mouth-to-speech alignment was like watching a Muppet. This was just stupid.

Teeny-bopper actors: Nothing special here.

Scariness factor: I'm 42, and I guess I'm just to weathered. I did not jump once. I'm sure to the 15-23 year old crowd, it was probably "scary".

Nice twist: Freddie's history, and how it evolved over the course of the film. Well done.

Big finale: "Adequate".

I wasn't exactly moved or thrilled with the flick. Chris and I went to see it at the midnight showing, and between the alcoholics we could smell, the snotty-nosed college dipstick we could hear breathing throughout the movie, and ending up boxed in between two sets of people, it was still a surprisingly decent theater experience (at least I got to sit next to the pretty girl - Chris got noisy-nose).

I'm sure younger audiences will enjoy it. It had several younger actors I recognized by face only (including the star of the "Terminator: Sarah Conner Chronicles" series). Yawn.

Daniella Finishes CNA Coursework

Today, Daniella finished her CNA coursework and graduated. Next step will be to pass the state exam, then get a job! She blazed through the course with flying colors, and I'm very proud of her. ;-)

MOVIE: The Crazies

Chris and I went to see "The Crazies" a few days ago (now showing at the cheap-o theater). It's basically a low budget horror movie, not really anything story-wise. Town gets infected by some odd virus, making people go crazy and kill other people. Key players survive at the end (with the requisite ironic ending inclusive - they're still being monitored by "someone" when they escape). It has the annoying modern method of showing you the "ending" at the beginning of the movie. (sigh) It was about 2 out of 4 stars, maybe worth renting on DVD if you're bored, I'd say.

Back Pain Is Not Fun

I've been having some lower back pain since Friday of last week, which came and went at seemingly random times. I then obtained a floor model (i.e. cheap) massager (it is soooooooo good) that does rolling and shiatsu methods moving up and down the back, plus heat (thank you, Sharper Image via Bed, Bath and Beyond). It never seemed to work on my pain (but felt soooooooo good).

This morning the pain was just too much. I had reason to believe it my be related to constipation (that had happened to me before) but no remedy for that helped. So I popped three Tylenol PMs to try and sleep at 1:00am this morning, then at 3:30am I took a hot shower, then at 6:00am went to the local Emergency Room. I have never, ever spent only 25 minutes in an ER, START TO FINISH, until today. The "doctor" decided based on my report of what lead to the pain that it was due to the back muscles, nothing else. One shot and one prescription later.

At 11:00am I went back, as the pain never changed and I felt that about four hours was enough to "test" this drug. Second visit, they "obliged me" and took sixteen x-rays of my mid-section. They found nothing blocking me (so to speak), so... two more injections (owwww, I hate liquids being injected that sting inside the body) and two more prescriptions on top of the original one. Relief started within an hour, but happened slowly so that at around 9:00pm, I was finally not suffering. Yay.

By my recall, I have had four occasions in the past 10 years where my lower back ended up like this. Pinched nerve one time, and I had what I thought was the best and coolest therapy ever. The therapist laid me on a "table" which was slightly curved downward, so my lags and head were basically hugging the outside of a circle. The middle of the table had a long open slot... about the size of a car tire... and the car tire hidden underneath then proceeded to come up under my buttocks, roll up my body (lifting me in the process) and then go back down under my shoulders, repeating for about 20 minutes. I loooooooved going to get that done.

I just hope I don't end up having constant back problems as I get older. Ugh.

Texting While Driving - Go Ahead, Be Stupid!!

If you can watch this video, and still come up with any excuse whatsoever to be texting while driving, or even to be TALKING on your phone for anything other than a highly urgent matter, you're a moron, plain and simple. I'm even reminded recently that I was idiotic enough to take a picture of myself while driving (which means I took three to see which one was best - thankfully I did not actually address and send it while driving). :-(

Please watch this video.  Please pass it on to others.  Please make sure your children watch it.



Please. I'm making my vow right now to be even smarter. Watch the ENTIRE FOUR MINUTES OF VIDEO. You're human. I'm sure it will have the right effect on you.

MOVIE: Kick-Ass

Truly a very funny movie, but also truly not for all audiences (in fact, I'd actually recommend that you not take "your kids" to this movie).  If you haven't read the comic series, it's basically about real people becoming "super" heroes (with no abilities out of the ordinary, for the most part).

It has the unenviable honor of having a very young (in her early teens) character as the run-away role... mainly because she is very,  very vulgar (yet you are compelled to really like her, whether it's due to her unfortunate birth, her loss of father for several years, or because she truly kick's butt).  Like most movies aimed at the 18-25 crowd these days, it's sprinkled with vulgarity, sexual inuendo, and violence.

I really liked the movie.  It's just unfortunate, as usual, that these traits, more especially being exhibited by under age characters, are what will make this movie a success.  :-/

And yes, I took Chris and Dani to see the movie, for what it's worth.

MOVIE: Clash Of The Titans (2010)

Clash Of The Titans (the orignal) was a campy, stop-motion animated "epic" that was enjoyable, even if it was hokey (especially the "robotic owl").

Clash Of The Titans (2010) was an attempt to make a serious version of the movie.  But in all honesty, the story (specifically, the screenplay) was horribly prepared.  There were gaps, but more especially, highly convenient occurrences throughout the film (where something was needed, so it just suddenly happened with little or no good reason).  I found myself making mental commentaries to myself through most of the movie.  It just was NOT good.  I really wouldn't even suggest it as a matinee showing barring a case of severe boredom, in hindsight.

Maybe they SHOULD have used the robot owl again.  :-/

MOVIE: Date Night

Okay, without sounding (hopefully) too much like a 17 year old boy (especially given that she's in my age group), Tina Fey is quite hot.  So I took Chris and went to see this flick expecting it to be at least "3 out of 5 stars".

It ended up 1.5 out of 5 stars, in all honesty.  I mean, these are two comedic powerhouses (Fey and Steve Carell).  I was glad to see that, at least, they were not responsible for writing it or directing it.  It was just boring, and the pauses between "funny bits" were far too long.

The whole "KILL SHOT!!" scene from the commercials was probably one of the funniest "moments".  It was just weak and long and the parts that were supposed to be funny... frequently were not.  Oh well.  Thank God for matinee pricing.

The Search Goes Nationwide

I've decided that I will no longer limit myself to the "local 60 mile radius" in my search for opportunities.  Home (California) will be my number one search area, by far.  Besides that, the rest of the country in general.

Deleting MySpace was a good start.  Reading text messages was the second.  Apparently my circle of "being the fool" is now 100% complete.  I now need to be my own number own number one concern.  :-(  Putting (almost) everyone before me is no longer the priority.  I've lost too many possibilities due to this method of living.

Job.  Relationship.  Future.  Not sure of the order, but those are the priorities now.

TV: Doctor Who - The Eleventh Hour

Season 31 (aka Season 5 by the new numbering) has begun in the UK, and I've just finished watching the premiere episode, "The Eleventh Hour" featuring the new Doctor, portrayed by Matt Smith, and his companion Amy Pond (portrayed by Karen Gillan).  This hour-plus episode was the first of the latest era of the Doctor (and since he is supposed to only have thirteen lives, inching closer to some sort of major event, I suppose).

*** SPOILERS AHEAD ***

It's not fair to try and judge the latest season ("series") by this first episode (good OR bad), so all I can say is... a nice start.  I am attempting to judge it on it's own merits, since each time they rejuvenate the series with a new actor as the Doctor, "everything changes" in any case.  The story has already begun to plant bits of information on some future story line, the final bit being the wedding dress and the Doctor promising to bring Amy back by "the next morning" (for her wedding, apparently).  I think it would be good if they do not rely too much on (human) characters created during the past few seasons much, if at all.  The the cracks in time-space, comments by Prisoner Zero about events coming up, and that dress, make it seem that they may already be planning crossover traffic with old characters.  We'll have to wait and see.

The new Tardis (though we didn't see it much at all) looks to be interesting with the new multi-level design (and apparently a pool, among other amenities).  The introduction of a slow "curing process" by which the Doctor's body and the Tardis had to "complete" over the course of (brief) time added slight suspense to the story, and a quick video journey from Doctor's 1 through 11 during the finale was quite cool.

I am a true Who lover, so I'll be here for the journey.  I'm not going to fret like some over repeated previews showing the Doctor (GASP) firing a gun.  I'm not going to cry foul if they do reintroduce old human characters (it *is* a time travel show, after all).  I'm going to sit back and enjoy the ride.  It's one of, if not the, best TV exports from the UK (I got quickly tired of Survivors already).  It's their "Star Trek".

(loved the typewriter)  ;-) 

Facebook - Defining The Internet Their Own Way

This story amazed me, as it shows how when a company becomes big on the 'net, that they can decide to redefine standards to their own needs.  An especially telling fact is at the end of the article (how much work Google would have to do if what happened to the author were to  happen to them).  Read this article for the story. It's pretty amazing.  Facebook seems to think they're in the same position Microsoft put themselves in when they wiped out Netscape... redefining how things work regardless of nationwide (worldwide!) standards.

Collisions At The LHC

So they're finally smashing protons at 99% of the speed of light, successfully now.  Let's hope the doomsday people aren't right.  We don't need a black hole sucking up Earth as happened to Vulcan and Romulus in Star Trek (well, Star Trek 11 that is).

Science Friday Archives: Collisions at the LHC